Erdogan points to those responsible for disrupting peace talks on Ukraine conflict

"Certain lobbies" did not want the peace talks on the conflict in Ukraine to reach their goal in Istanbul in 2022. This statement was made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on September 23 at the Türkevi Roundtable in New York.

"Certain lobbies did not want the efforts to succeed. In any case, we are doing our best to end [the conflict] without devastating consequences," Anadolu Agency quoted him as saying.

He emphasized that Turkey was making every effort to "establish justice" and settle the Ukrainian conflict. According to him, Ankara plays an important role in this process.

On September 16, Kazakh President Kasym-Jomart Tokayev said that the chance for a truce on the Ukrainian conflict was lost after Kiev's refusal to conclude the Istanbul agreement. He added that it was necessary to consider all peace initiatives of different countries in order to settle the conflict.

Prior to that, on September 11, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that former US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland's statement about Kiev's progress in negotiating the Istanbul agreements in spring 2022 was proof of Washington's involvement in Ukraine's rejection of these agreements.

On August 30, Nuland said in an interview that Turkey offered a platform for Russia-Ukraine talks, with no U.S. representatives in the room. Toward the end of the talks, Kiev's representatives consulted with the US side, and after that the agreement fell apart, the diplomat specified.

The last round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine took place in Istanbul on March 29, 2022. They lasted about three hours. Later, Kiev officially refused contacts with Moscow. On October 4 of the same year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy put into effect the decision of the country's National Security and Defense Council on the impossibility of holding talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.