Turkey Still Hopeful for Imminent Deal in Ukraine: Fidan

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attended the summit held by the United Kingdom on March 2 with the participation of prominent European nations as well as NATO and EU leaders for developing a concerted security plan for Ukraine after Washington’s radical policy shift.

In a statement after the summit, Fidan expressed Turkey’s hopes for an immediate ceasefire and lasting agreement between the two warring sides. “

“What are the elements that can make it possible? Each country has different ideas on this. But our priority, as our president has already declared, [is based on] that nobody loses in peace. We should therefore work for this,” he said.

Turkey has long been calling for ending the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine and starting negotiations for a lasting agreement.

Fidan, in London, recalled Turkey’s diplomatic efforts to this end and repeated its readiness to contribute to the process as the host of talks between the two warring countries.

The Turkish top diplomat described the summit as important but also underlined that there were different ideas on how to reach an agreement to end the war.

“Within the European Union, different perspectives have emerged in light of the position the U.S. has taken in recent weeks and the increasing clarity of that position,” he stated

Fidan referred to a radical policy shift by the U.S. on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict after Donald Trump came to power in January. A spat between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House on Feb. 28 has been interpreted as an unprecedented diplomatic incident, which has almost broken the ties between Washington and Kiev.

These recent developments in the region have delivered a major blow to the stability of the alliance, raising significant concerns about the future of NATO's security understanding in Europe.

Fidan stressed that the Europeans would continue to increase the frequency of such summits in the coming period, saying, “It has become obvious that America’s recent political stances, particularly on Ukraine and on the European security, have created question marks in the minds of the European leaders.”

On Ankara’s stance, Fidan recalled the importance of the Turkish contribution to the peace talks in Ukraine and reshaping the security architecture in Europe, underlining that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has a great vision for making this a reality.

Source: HDN