ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, speaking alongside his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Wednesday, said the war in Ukraine must stop and Ankara would pursue diplomatic efforts to arrange a lasting ceasefire.
Cavusoglu told reporters after a meeting with Lavrov that NATO member Turkey hoped Russian President Vladimir Putin would meet Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as a step toward peace.
“The war must stop, people must not die. I came here to Moscow with this understanding today,” Cavusoglu said.
“We have shared our concerns in a sincere way and done our part to ease tensions and open the stage for diplomacy,” he said. “We would like to host this (Putin-Zelenskiy) meeting when the situation comes to that point…for a lasting ceasefire.”
Lavrov said there were no obstacles to a meeting between Putin and Zelenskiy but that it would only take place to seal a specific agreement.
Last week Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba held talks in Turkey in the first such meeting since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Turkey shares a maritime border with Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea, has good ties with both and has offered to mediate between the warring countries. It has voiced support for Ukraine, but also opposed sanctions on Moscow.
Cavusoglu said on Wednesday Turkey’s priority was evacuating citizens remaining in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol after more than 15,000 Turks had already left the country, which is to the north across the Black Sea.
Moscow has denied attacking civilian areas in what it calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Later on Wednesday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s office said he held a phone call with Zelensky and told him that Turkey is making “intense” diplomatic efforts for a lasting ceasefire to be established quickly.
Erdogan also said in the call that he would continue his efforts to arrange a meeting between Zelenksy and Putin.
(Reporting Ece Toksabay, Nevzat Devranoglu and Ezgi Erkoyun; Writing by Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Dominic Evans, Angus MacSwan, William Maclean)
