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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will meet Turkish leader
Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul after visits to Bulgaria and the
Czech Republic, part of a tour of some NATO capitals aimed at
encouraging them to take concrete steps at a summit next week
towards granting Kyiv membership of the alliance.
A key element of Zelenskiy's talks in Istanbul will be the fate
of a deal, brokered last year by Turkey and the United Nations,
to allow for the safe export of grain from Ukrainian ports via
the Black Sea despite the war raging across Ukraine.
The Kremlin said it would be watching the talks closely, saying
Putin has highly appreciated the mediation of Erdogan in
attempting to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.
"As for forthcoming contacts between Putin and Erdogan, we do
not rule them out in the foreseeable future," Kremlin spokesman
Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Russia, angry about aspects of the grain deal's implementation,
has threatened not to allow its further extension beyond July
17.
As well as the grain deal and a possible prisoner swap, Erdogan
and Zelenskiy will discuss efforts to end the war, the senior
Turkish official said.
Turkey, a NATO member, has managed to retain cordial relations
with both Russia and Ukraine over the past 16 months of the war
and last year it helped to broker prisoner exchanges.
Turkey has not joined its Western allies in imposing economic
sanctions on Russia, but has also supplied arms to Ukraine and
called for its sovereignty to be respected.
Erdogan and Zelenskiy are scheduled to hold a press conference
at 1800 GMT on Friday.
The Turkish official said Erdogan might hold a phone call with
Russian President Vladimir Putin following his talks with
Zelenskiy. A Turkish minister could also visit Moscow for
further discussions, the official added.
(Reporting by Orhan Coskun, Writing by Huseyin Hayatsever,
Editing by Jonathan Spicer and Gareth Jones)
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