On July 18th, local time, the Turkish President Erdogan (left) and Russian President Putin (right)
The Turkish presidential office announced that on the same day, Turkish President Erdogan had a phone conversation with Russian President Putin.
They exchanged views on bilateral relations between Turkey and Russia, regional situations, and global hot topics.
In the call, Erdogan stated that Russia and Ukraine should promptly initiate the third round of negotiations, and Turkey is willing to continue hosting the talks in Istanbul after determining an appropriate time for all parties. He expressed that Turkey is ready to host the new round of negotiations.
Regarding the recent situation in Syria, Erdogan mentioned that the conflict triggered by the withdrawal of Syrian regime forces from Suwayda province poses a threat to the entire region. Israel should not violate Syrian sovereignty. He stated that Turkey’s goal is to promote security and stability in Syria and to restore national order as soon as possible.
Russia says it is willing to conduct the third round of negotiations, while Ukraine says it will not hold them temporarily
During a regular meeting on July 17th, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zakharova said that the Russian delegation is willing to travel to Istanbul, Turkey, to hold the third round of negotiations with Ukraine.
On July 10th, Ukrainian President Zelensky in an interview stated that
the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine will not take place temporarily
because the prisoner exchange operation agreed upon by both sides has not been completed.
Russia and Ukraine have held two rounds of negotiations in Turkey
On May 16th, the delegations of Russia and Ukraine resumed direct negotiations on peace-making in the Russia-Ukraine conflict in Istanbul, marking the first direct negotiations between the two sides in three years. They reached a consensus on exchanging 1,000 prisoners of war, and “in principle” agreed to continue contact and negotiations.
On June 2nd, the Russian and Ukrainian sides held their second round of direct negotiations in Istanbul, Turkey. Both sides agreed to exchange all severely wounded and critically ill prisoners of war “all for all,” and to exchange large numbers of prisoners under the age of 25 and the bodies of deceased soldiers. According to the prisoner exchange agreement negotiated during this round of talks, Russia and Ukraine agreed to exchange at least 1,000 prisoners each, with Russia handing over 6,000 Ukrainian military personnel bodies to Ukraine. (CCTV Cheng Mo, Chen Huihui)
The Russia-Ukraine conflict has attracted multi-party competition