ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit Turkey on Monday to discuss his country’s recent talks with U.S. officials on ending the war in Ukraine, and how Ankara can contribute to the process, a Turkish foreign ministry source said on Sunday.
NATO-member Turkey, which hosted initial negotiations between Russia and Ukraine months after the war began in 2022, “is ready to assume this role in the upcoming period”, the source said, requesting anonymity.
Lavrov’s visit coincides with the three-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The source added that Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan would also discuss the ceasefire in Gaza and the situation in Syria, where Turkey will emphasize the need for Syrian territorial unity and the expulsion of terrorists.
U.S. and Russian negotiators met in Riyadh last week to discuss ending the conflict in Ukraine, without Kyiv’s participation. On the same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.
The Turkish source said the sides on Monday would discuss steps toward “a just and lasting peace through diplomatic efforts, recent contacts between the U.S. and Russia and the contributions that Turkey can make to the process”.
Turkey has sought to balance good ties with both Ukraine and Russia, its Black Sea neighbours, throughout the war.
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Helen Popper)
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