Turkey will again offer to host peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine during the London summit, according to a source

Sources in the Turkish diplomatic community said on Saturday that at a meeting of European leaders in London on Sunday, Turkey’s foreign minister will repeat Ankara’s offer to host peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

Turkey, a member of NATO, held the first talks between the two sides a few months after Russia invaded Ukraine in full in 2022. This helped make a deal for the safe passage of grain exports through the Black Sea. It said that both countries must be present at any future peace talks.

Ankara has been asking for a ceasefire since 2024 and has supported the U.S. effort to end the war. However, the discussion between the presidents of Ukraine and the U.S. in public in Washington on Friday derailed the plan to end the war.

The source said that on Sunday, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will talk to European leaders about Turkey’s attempts to end the war in a “fair and lasting peace.” Fidan will also reaffirm Ankara’s support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The person also said that Fidan will “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 stress that all parties must work together to achieve long-term economic prosperity and security in the region.

Turkey, which is on the Black Sea like Russia and Ukraine, has had good relations with both of them since the war began. It has given military aid to Kyiv while refusing to join Western measures against Russia.

The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, went to Turkey last month. On the same day, U.S. and Russian officials met in Riyadh to try to end the war, but Kyiv wasn’t there.

Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia, also met with people in Ankara on Monday.

Thursday, representatives from the US and Russia met in Istanbul to talk about problems between the two countries that had to do with how their embassies worked.

Last week, Zelenskiy said that he thought Turkey was a very important security help for Ukraine.