Fidan says Turkey ready to host Ukraine talks

Turkey has expressed readiness to hold talks on the situation in Ukraine. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said this on February 24 following talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

"Our ultimate goal is to achieve lasting peace between our two neighbors. We have expressed our readiness to mediate, up to and including accepting the talks," he told a press conference in Ankara.

Fidan also emphasized that in order to reach a peaceful settlement, both sides of the conflict should be involved and Turkey is ready to provide all possible support in the process.

"We see the U.S.-initiated talks that correlate with our position and efforts as well. At the same time, we believe that a solution can be reached through negotiations involving both sides," he added.

The Turkish foreign minister characterized the talks with Lavrov as productive and expressed his desire to deepen cooperation with Russia.

"We discussed in detail all the issues on our bilateral agenda. We also exchanged views on how to advance our cooperation," Fidan stressed.

On February 5, Fidan said the country expects that concrete US initiatives to resolve the conflict in Ukraine will appear in the near future, but all sides will need to reach a serious consensus to make a decision.