Turkey returns to the center of the diplomatic scene: American president Donald Trump has declared that he wanted to participate in any negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul and hopes for the presence of both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky. “I don’t know where I will be on Thursday. I have so many meetings, but I thought of taking the plane to go there. There is a possibility, I think, if I think something can happen,” said the head of the White House.
The Kremlin has announced the desire to start “serious” negotiations for a lasting solution of the conflict. The initiative was born from Putin’s proposal to keep a direct meeting between Russians and Ukrainians in the Turkish city of Istanbul, scheduled for Thursday. Interviews that, says the spokesman for the Kremlin Dmitry Peskov, receive “the support of the leaders of many countries” including those of Brics, which includes China and Brazil.
Moscow does not accept a “ultimatum” on the truce
Moscow, however, wants to make it clear that it will not accept “ultimatum” on a respite. Word of Peskov, who called the requests of European leaders “unacceptable”, gathered in London in the Weimar Plus format, who asked Russia to accept a 30 -day respite by tonight or expect the imposition of new penalties. Despite the appeal to cease the complete and lasting fire starting May 12, Kiev denounces Russian attacks “along the entire line of the front”, reported the Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha on X.
Zelensky announces: “Ready to meet Putin in Türkiye”
Faced with the opening of a glimmer for the peace interviews that could lead to the end of the bloody conflict in Ukraine, the pressing of numerous actors on the international scene increases. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan reiterated the urgency of a meeting “as soon as possible” between Moscow and Kiev. The date of the probable face to face is set on May 15, but the leader of the Kremlin have not yet arrived on his participation.
What is the role of Türkiye in the war between Russia and Ukraine
It is not the first time that Turkey and its leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan tries to be the director of the end of the conflict in Ukraine. Ankara took place as a key mediator, maintaining open channels with both Kiev and Moscow and cutting out the role of credible mediator for both sides.
For Turkey, the war in Ukraine is not only a crisis to manage, but also a strategic opportunity. Ankara has in fact seized the conflict as an opportunity to strengthen its regional influence, increase the weight within NATO and diversify the energy routes by reducing the addiction to Russian gas. Support to an independent and militarily strong Ukraine is part of a containment strategy of Russia, especially in the Black Sea, an area of crucial importance for Turkish security. With this in mind, the explicit support for Kiev’s entry into NATO goes beyond the symbolic solidarity: it is a strategic choice to guarantee a balance of power that stops the ambitions of Moscow.
In this drawing, Ankara finds himself increasingly aligned with an emerging block of European countries, including Poland and the nations of Eastern Europe. Warsaw, in particular, sees in Türkiye a key ally to strengthen the south-eastern side of the Atlantic alliance and supports its greater involvement in European security structures. Unlike many Western capital, Turkey does not limit itself to supporting Ukraine with weapons or diplomatic declarations. Actively challenges the Russian influence in theaters where the United States and Europe have long reduced their presence: from Syria to Libya, up to Caucasus and Central Asia, Ankara competes with Moscow on the ground of safety, economy and diplomacy.
But Turkey is also taking advantage of the conflict in Ukraine to strengthen its energy safety, diversifying the supply routes and reducing the dependence on Russian gas. A goal pursued through a growing network of agreements with alternative suppliers, especially in the Caucasus and Central Asia.
Erdogan’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine
Already in March 2022, when the war in Ukraine had started for less than a month, the Turkish diplomacy succeeded in a company that seemed impossible: to sit at the same table the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine, during a summit in Antalya. A few weeks later, at the end of March, a new meeting in Istanbul put the delegations of the two countries face to face. Peace seemed at hand, but the negotiating abruptly struck after the massacres of Bucha and Irpin, who interrupted any dialogue.
The parish priest of Bucha three years after the massacre: “I can’t forgive the Russians for the atrocities committed”
Since then, diplomatic attention has focused on more pragmatic soil: global food safety. The main result was the agreement on wheat and transport in the Black Sea, reached in July 2022 thanks to the mediation of Türkiye and shipped exactly one year later by Moscow decision. To date, that pact has remained the only real success of Turkish diplomacy in the context of the conflict: over 32 million tons of agricultural products started from the Ukrainian ports under the supervision of the agreement.
Between diplomacy and geopolitical calculation, Ankara tries to return the protagonist to the war in Ukraine. But on the negotiation table, peace still remains to be written.
