Erdogan’s spokesman: The conflict in Ukraine will end only after a deal between Russia and the West
Turkey will promote the idea of “local truces” and other de-escalation measures, a spokesman for the Turkish president said. Also, he said, peace in Ukraine is impossible without a “grand bargain” between the West and Russia
Turkey intends to promote the idea of local truces in Ukraine and is also in favor of a “grand bargain” between Russia and the West. Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told reporters, TASS reported.
“Turkey intends to promote the idea of local truces and small local de-escalation measures,” he said.
Kalyn also noted that the conflict in Ukraine can only end if a “big deal” is struck between Russia and the West. “The key here is the broader geopolitical picture, where Russia wants to make a new deal with the West, primarily with the United States. So some kind of grand bargain has to be struck that will have to resolve the larger geopolitical issues between Russia and the Western bloc. Otherwise, the war will drag on for a long time,” he pointed out.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has previously repeatedly called on Western countries to dialogue with Russia and also organized several peace summits in Istanbul, which, however, did not yield any serious results. Ankara believes that Western countries will face “endless costs” due to Russia’s isolation and also does not agree to impose sanctions against Moscow.
In January, Turkey also supported Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s proposed “peace formula,” which he presented at the G20 summit in November. The plan includes radiation, food and energy security, release of all prisoners, restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, withdrawal of Russian troops and cessation of hostilities, countering ecocide, preventing escalation and fixing that the conflict is over.
The Russian Foreign Ministry responded by disagreeing with Turkey’s position. “We are well aware of Turkey’s assessment of Zelensky’s so-called peace plan, we cannot agree with it, Ankara’s support for this venture of the Kiev regime is unlikely to contribute to the search for optimal ways to achieve peace in Ukraine, already repeatedly spoke about the unacceptability of this plan for our country,” said the official representative of the Ministry Maria Zakharova.