Zelenskyy: Ukraine ready to meet Putin in Türkiye, relying on Erdoğan’s mediation

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that his country is ready to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Türkiye, expressing hope that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan could help arrange a summit between the two leaders, a day after their talks in Istanbul.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine is ready to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Türkiye, expressing hope that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan could help arrange a summit between the leaders. In an interview with Türkiye’s CNN Türk channel broadcast on Sunday, he said: “If Türkiye can achieve this, we will accept it and be happy about it.”

Zelenskyy added that his relations with Erdoğan, as well as the Turkish president’s relations with U.S. President Donald Trump and Putin, could help advance peace efforts, saying: “We must move the hot phase of this war at least into a diplomatic phase, and I am counting on Türkiye’s mediation in this regard.”

President Erdoğan receives Ukrainian President Zelenskyy at the Dolmabahçe Office in Istanbul on October 31, 2026

Zelenskyy proposed mutual guarantees for commercial navigation in the Black Sea, explaining that ships flying the Turkish flag or other flags should be able to enter Ukrainian ports without being targeted by Russia, while Ukraine would likewise refrain from attacking ships flying the Turkish flag when they enter Russian ports.

The interview came after Zelenskyy’s visit to Istanbul on October 31, where he held talks with Erdoğan at the Dolmabahçe Office. At the joint press conference, Erdoğan said that “there are no losers in a just peace,” affirming Türkiye’s readiness to make every possible effort to open the way to peace and saying that attacks on civilian vessels in the Black Sea are unacceptable, regardless of their source.

Türkiye hosted three rounds of direct talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Istanbul in 2025, while Zelenskyy said that Ukraine supports holding trilateral meetings at the leaders’ level in Türkiye.

Zelenskyy: Ukraine ready to meet Putin in Türkiye, relying on Erdoğan’s mediation