Turkey–Ukraine relations

Turkish and Ukrainian military officials had a meeting in Ankara on July 4 to discuss the shipment of grain exports from Ukraine, the daily Hürriyet reported.

The officials exchanged views on bilateral and regional defense and security issues at the meeting held at the Defense Ministry.

Türkiye next week will host Russian, Ukrainian and U.N. officials for talks aimed at resuming stalled grain exports across the Black Sea, media reported on June 21. 

The meeting in Istanbul would be preceded by a visit to Moscow by a Turkish defense delegation this week, CNN Turk cited Turkish presidential sources as saying.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on June 15 said that Sweden's and Finland's documented responses regarding their NATO bids do not fulfill the expectations of Ankara.

Turkey has hailed a UN plan with Ukraine and Russia to create a food corridor through the Black Sea in a bid to avert famine in the world's poorest countries as Ankara hosted a meeting between Turkish and Russian foreign ministers, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Sergey Lavrov.

Turkish and Russian top diplomats, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Sergey Lavrov will discuss the modalities of a secure corridor to be established through the Black Sea for the shipment of nearly 20 million tons of grain to world markets to avoid a major global food crisis.

Russian Ambassador to Turkey Aleksei Erkhov has highlighted the importance of Turkey's mediation role between Ukraine and Russia, expressing hope that peace talks between the two warring parties will soon yield results.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on April 26 talked to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, and renewed his proposal for a leaders' summit in Turkey with the Ukrainian leader to end the war.

The continuation of the positive momentum achieved in the Istanbul talks to reach peace in Ukraine is in the interest of everyone, Erdoğan told Putin, according to the Turkish presidency.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Dutch PM Mark Rutte discussed Ukraine war and bilateral relations over phone on April 22. 

The call addressed the steps that would enhance the bilateral relations, as well as the regional issues, particularly the Ukraine-Russia war, according to a statement by Turkey's Directorate of Communications. 

Turkey on April 20 accused some of its NATO allies of wanting the war in Ukraine to last longer in order to weaken Russia.

"There are countries within NATO who want the war to continue," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told CNN Turk in an interview.

"Turkey remains an important factor of stabilization in the Black Sea region, and the Istanbul talks are an important basis on which the conflicting parties can reach an agreement on a ceasefire and peace in Ukraine," Altun said, RIA Novosti reported, citing the Turkish Anatolia news agency.