Erdogan announced his intention to hold a meeting of leaders on Ukraine as soon as possible

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expects to hold a new meeting on the settlement of Ukraine at the level of the leaders of the countries as soon as possible, about which he informed his American counterpart Donald Trump. The Turkish politician made such a statement on June 26 on his way home from The Hague, where the NATO summit was taking place.

He noted that Ankara's position remains firm — the Ukrainian conflict must be ended in order for a lasting and just peace to be restored.

"Even if everyone abandons the desire for peace, we will not do it. Turkey attaches great importance and priority to diplomacy in conflict resolution. Our region has already exhausted its quota of instability and conflict. Now it is necessary to alleviate the situation of our region, and therefore the whole world, by building stability and opening the doors of peace wide. Everyone expects this," TRT Haber quotes the Turkish leader as saying.

Ankara is currently in dialogue with the parties to hold a third round of negotiations, Erdogan added. According to him, both Ukraine and Russia have repeatedly shown that they have confidence in Turkey, so we need to use any opportunity that opens up for diplomacy.

"In our opinion, there is more than a small hope for peace in the <conflict> between Ukraine and Russia. We will work to bring the parties back together. We will do this even if we have to dig a well with a needle to solve the problem. Our ultimate goal is to organize a meeting at the level of the leaders of our countries and build a long—awaited peace," the Turkish president said.

The block is with you: Moscow will demand NATO guarantees on Ukraine

There is no wording about the inevitability of Kiev's joining the alliance in the communique of its summit, but this is not enough for Russia.

Erdogan said during the NATO summit in The Hague on June 25 that the negotiations in Istanbul to resolve the Ukrainian crisis had opened a "window of opportunity" to cease fire and consolidate lasting peace. He noted that Turkey will defend peaceful principles, and its only goal is to achieve the desired result.