Erdogan and Zelensky discuss peace talks and cooperation

The presidents of Turkey and Ukraine, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Volodymyr Zelensky, held a meeting on the sidelines of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Erdogan stated that Turkey is ready to continue facilitating the achievement of a lasting peace in Ukraine and the resumption of direct negotiations.

The Ukrainian leader spoke about this on his Telegram channel.

Zelensky noted that Kyiv supports holding a trilateral summit at the level of leaders in Turkey and is ready to take part in it if Ankara organizes the meeting.

The parties discussed the course of the Russian-Ukrainian war, security in the Black Sea, and ensuring the operation of the maritime export corridor. Zelensky emphasized the need to restore full-scale food exports and stated that for this, Russia must stop strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure, after which Ukraine is ready to reciprocally halt long-range strikes.

Erdogan stressed that attacks on commercial vessels have no justification and called on the parties to behave responsibly.

Zelensky also informed his Turkish counterpart about contacts with the American team. During the meeting, the parties exchanged views on bilateral issues, including a free trade area and a potential Drone Deal, as well as the development of cooperation in energy, the mining industry, and the defense industry.

According to Zelensky, the countries intend to increase trade turnover from $1 billion to $10 billion.