Erdogan says Turkey ready to help restart Ukraine-Russia peace talks

In brief

• Turkish President Erdogan told Trump that Turkey is ready to help restart diplomacy between Ukraine and Russia.
• The announcement was made public by the Turkish presidency on 28 October.
• The leaders also discussed US-Turkey relations and the situations in the Strait of Hormuz and Yemen.
• The offer comes amid efforts to arrange a trilateral meeting involving the US, Russia and Ukraine.

Ankara offers to help revive diplomacy

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a telephone conversation with Donald Trump that Turkey is ready to join efforts to restart the diplomatic process between Ukraine and Russia and, through it, bring the war to an end (Туреччина готова допомагати із завершенням війни Росії проти України: Ердоган поговорив з Трампом – Suspilne) (Эрдоган заявил о готовности Турции помочь возобновить переговоры между Украиной и Россией – NV). The Turkish presidency announced the call on the social media platform X on 28 October (Туреччина готова відновити переговори між Україною та Росією: Ердоган звернувся до Трампа – TSN) (Ердоган заявив Трампу про готовність Туреччини долучитися до відновлення дипломатії між Україною та Росією – Українська правда).

Bilateral and regional issues

According to the presidency, the two leaders also discussed relations between Turkey and the United States, as well as regional and international questions. Erdogan stressed the need for a diplomatic settlement of the situation in the Strait of Hormuz and in Yemen. He said Turkey, as a member of the Joint Defense Pact of Mecca, was closely following developments in both areas.

Earlier positions

Erdogan has previously said the war between Russia and Ukraine should end only with Ukraine's full sovereignty and borders preserved.

Context of a possible summit

The offer comes as US envoy Steve Witkoff met Volodymyr Zelensky, Norway's prime minister and Finland's president in Oslo on 20 October, where Kyiv and European partners proposed moving to a trilateral leaders' meeting. The next day Witkoff held talks with Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg and said he had brought documents outlining approaches to ending the war. Earlier, Zelensky said US officials had mentioned the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia as possible venues for such a meeting. The Kremlin has questioned whether a quick trilateral summit of Putin, Trump and Zelensky is feasible.