Erdogan Wants to Accelerate Putin-Zelensky Meeting

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to expedite the organization of a potential meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Istanbul, as stated by Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, according to RIA Novosti.

“Discussions regarding the conditions and venue for the leaders’ meeting are ongoing. Both sides, Russia and Ukraine, have expressed a desire to meet in Istanbul, but the negotiation process regarding the timing and terms of arrival is still in progress. As negotiators, we are trying to bring the positions of Russia and Ukraine closer together, which are quite different on this issue. We are aware of U.S. President Donald Trump's interest in the summit. Overall, our president wants to accelerate this process; he believes that through a meeting of leaders, it will be possible to overcome several deadlocks in the negotiations between the delegations,” Fidan said at a press conference in Istanbul.