Ankara (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met in Ankara at 4:10 PM on February 24, 2025. They talked mostly about the crisis in Ukraine and ways to stop the ongoing fights there. Both counterparts took up talks on what the best terms would be for both sides to find a deal together.
This meeting was preceded by significant events, including President of the United States of America Donald J. Trump calling for an end to the war as soon as possible and the signing of an agreement between the U.S. and Ukraine, which grants the U.S. special permission to extract rare earth minerals from territories controlled by Ukraine. Also, of significant importance was the foregoing meeting of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, during which they talked over security guarantees, prisoner exchange procedure, and the potential strengthening of the Turkey- Ukraine cooperation.
FM Hakan Fidan responses
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was asked about Turkey’s role in the probable negotiation process and overall stance on the international security guarantees.
Turkish FM confirmed Turkey’s willingness and preparedness to be actively involved in the negotiation process. According to him, Turkey is vigilantly observing the situation in Ukraine as well as the repercussions of the United States – Russia diplomatic meet-up to demonstrate full-fledged commitment and contribution toward conflict resolution. Nonetheless, Fidan expressed allegiance to a firm and value-based standpoint while agreeing on the provision of technical resources needed for peace talks, which would largely be dependent on various parties’ decisions.
On the matter of granting the security guarantees, the Minister underscored the importance of several prior attempts by Turkey to achieve a sustained and diplomatic environment that would help achieve peace.
Taken as a whole, Turkey affirmed its unwavering dedication to upholding serenity and establishing peace through dynamic participation in enhancing dialogue, along with endorsing the cooperative actions in the suffering zones.
FM Sergey Lavrov’s responses
FM Lavrov emphasized the peculiar entanglement of the situation and referred to Western politicians as the ones throwing a monkey wrench in the works. Simultaneously, he acknowledged Turkey’s role in fostering peace talks and reproached the West, precisely the European Union (EU), for instigating the hostilities and hindering the negotiations. He said that Ukraine could have agreed on resolution terms if the West had not interfered and called for military efforts in the times of Russia’s fallible strategic condition.
The somewhat fatuous and malevolent intents of Ukrainian leadership endorsed by Westerners is something to blame, according to the Russian official.
However, the Russian Foreign Minister asserts Russia’s readiness to partake in peacemaking efforts alongside Ukraine, the United States, Turkey, and the EU.
Furthermore, Lavrov expressed gratitude towards the Turkish side on its stance and for the desire to facilitate the discussion between Russia and Ukraine and pointed out that it is crucial to focus on inflexible solutions and not merely temporary and superficial deals in order to accomplish long-lasting peace.
Turkey is open to facilitating negotiations, whereas Russia demands a fair and sincere approach from other international actors when taking up a diplomatic spot to solve the ongoing dispute.
In the multifaceted and complex geopolitical reality of the present day, the EU can be either a player or a playground. The complexities are now being seen in the EU – U.S. economic relations too, which further exacerbates the political climate, but hopefully there still is some room for diplomacy and bargaining owing to mutually pursued values and goals.
Similarly, all parties willing to participate in the peace process should advocate the idea of fairness and equality, at least to minimize the expenses attributable to losses of human life as catalysts for a less pugnacious agreement.
