Putin Meets, Commends Turkey’s President Erdogan Effort On Ukraine War

Putin Meets, Commends Turkey’s President Erdogan Effort On Ukraine War

Russian President Vladimir Putin commended Turkey’s efforts to mediate in the Ukraine conflict during a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in China on Monday.

“I’m confident that Turkey’s special role in these matters will continue to be in demand,” the Russian president said during talks with Erdogan on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.

He noted that three rounds of direct negotiations with Ukraine held in Istanbul had achieved limited progress, particularly on humanitarian issues.

However, the talks have so far produced no major breakthrough in Russia’s more than three-and-a-half-year offensive, leading only to prisoner exchanges and the repatriation of soldiers’ remains.

The two sides remain deeply divided. Ukraine has criticized Moscow for sending junior officials without real authority to the Istanbul talks, while Russia continues to demand that Kyiv surrender four regions it claims to have annexed—terms Ukraine has firmly rejected.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump has called for a direct meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but Moscow insists such talks are premature until key disputes are addressed.

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, vast areas of eastern and southern Ukraine have been devastated, with tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians killed.