Ukraine Seeks Türkiye as Venue for Potential Zelenskiy-Putin Summit, Says Foreign Minister

Ukraine has formally requested that Türkiye host a potential meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukraine’s top diplomat said on Wednesday, as Kyiv seeks to breathe new life into stalled peace negotiations.

“We asked the Turks about it, we also approached some other capitals,” Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told reporters on Tuesday, with his remarks cleared for release the following day.

While Sybiha did not disclose Ankara’s response, he emphasized that Ukraine remains open to any neutral venue with the firm exclusion of Belarus or Russia. Zelenskiy has long sought a direct face-to-face meeting with Putin to accelerate an end to the more than four-year conflict, which has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions, and devastated Ukrainian infrastructure.

“Any other capital besides Moscow and Minsk would be acceptable,” Sybiha said. “If another capital organizes such a meeting, we will go.”

Belarus, a close ally of Russia, allowed Moscow to use its territory as a staging ground for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Zelenskiy has repeatedly ruled out meeting Putin in either country, calling such proposals unacceptable.

The Kremlin has previously said it would welcome Zelenskiy in Moscow an offer Kyiv has dismissed as insincere and provocative.

Türkiye, a NATO member with close ties to both Kyiv and Moscow, has already played host to several rounds of peace talks between the two sides, most notably in Istanbul in March 2022. Those discussions ultimately collapsed, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has continued to position himself as a potential mediator. Any renewed summit would likely face significant hurdles, including deep mutual distrust and divergent territorial demands.

In a separate development, Sybiha confirmed that he had exchanged written messages with Anita Orbán, who is set to become Hungary’s new foreign minister once the newly elected government following Hungary’s election earlier this month takes office. Hungary, which has maintained warmer relations with Moscow than most EU members, could play a complex role in future diplomatic efforts related to Ukraine.

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