Turkey’s Erdogan and UN’s Guterres meet with Zelensky in Lviv

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres held a meeting at Lviv’s Potocki Palace on Thursday, August 17. The talks marked Erdogan’s first visit to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale war in February.

At the meeting, Turkey and Ukraine reportedly signed a memorandum on Turkey’s participation in the reconstruction of Ukrainian infrastructure destroyed by the war. The partnership may start with the restoration of a bridge between Bucha and Irpin in Ukraine’s Kyiv region.

Other agenda items included Ukrainian-Turkish relations, the implementation of the Istanbul agreements on Ukrainian grain exports, and the resumption of peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. 

On August 5, Erdogan went to Sochi to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. At the meeting, CNN Turk reported, Putin “hinted” at the possibility of direct negotiations between him and Zelensky. Sources indicated then that a meeting between the two parties to discuss a “road map” for Ukraine and a ceasefire might be feasible. 

Following the meeting in Lviv on Thursday, President Zelensky said that negotiations with Moscow would only be possible if Russian troops withdraw from Ukraine.