Zelensky says he is ready to meet Putin in Türkiye

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with Turkish television on 1 November that he is ready to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Türkiye. He stressed that he hopes Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan can help organise a leaders' summit.

"If Türkiye can make this happen, we would accept it and would only be happy about it," Zelensky said. He described Türkiye as a practical mediator that does not take sides and said a meeting of leaders is necessary because some issues cannot be resolved at the level of technical teams.

Zelensky also said Ukraine wants a full and unconditional ceasefire with a monitoring mechanism and will not give up its territories, including Crimea.

On the same day, the Ukrainian president said that if Washington wants Russian oil refineries not to be targeted, Moscow must stop its attacks on Ukraine's energy system. He also said Ukraine has submitted an offer to buy Patriot missiles from the United States and is ready to secure the necessary funding.

The Kremlin has not yet responded directly to the proposal of a meeting in Türkiye. Moscow said earlier that it wants the first rounds of negotiations to be held in a trilateral format with US participation. Ukraine is preparing for a trilateral meeting with the United States and Russia in the first half of November.

Zelensky met Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Istanbul on 31 October, and the two sides agreed to continue work on restoring the Black Sea grain corridor. In 2022, Türkiye hosted talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul and, together with the UN, mediated the Black Sea Grain Initiative that year.