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Turkey is expected to reiterate an offer to host peace talks between Ukraine and Russia at Sunday’s meeting of European leaders in London, reported news agency Reuters on Saturday.Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will brief European leaders on Sunday on Ankara’s efforts to find a “fair and lasting peace” to the war, Reuters report said citing a source.He will also affirm Ankara’s commitment to Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, it added.In March 2022, NATO-member Turkey had hosted initial talks between the two sides helping secure a deal for the safe passage of grain exports in the Black Sea.Fidan is expected to “underline that Turkey, which hosted direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in March 2022, is ready to take up this role in the coming period”, and emphasise that all parties must jointly focus on lasting regional security and stability, as well as economic prosperity, in negotiations, reported Reuters.Ankara has repeatedly called for a ceasefire since 2024. It also welcomed the US initiative to end the war, which was derailed by a public argument between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and United States President Donald Trump in Washington on Friday.Turkey has maintained good ties with both Ukraine and Russia, since the start of the war. It has provided Kyiv with military support, while refusing to participate in Western sanctions against Moscow.elenskiy visited Turkey last month, on the same day US and Russian representatives met for talks – without Kyiv’s participation – in Riyadh aimed at ending the war.Last week, Zelenskiy had said that he saw Turkey as an important security guarantor for Ukraine.On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also held talks in Ankara.Fidan and Lavrov discussed the latest developments around the Ukraine-Russia war in a phone call on Saturday, Reuters report said citing the source.Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s trip to Washington on Friday was a political and diplomatic failure and that he was obsessed with continuing to wage war.Zelenskiy and Trump clashed at a White House meeting on Friday, plunging ties between Kyiv and the United States – its main military backer – to a new low.”The visit … to Washington on February 28 is a complete political and diplomatic failure by the Kyiv regime,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement published on Saturday on the ministry’s website.
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