Ukraine war: Erdogan and Guterres meet with Zelenskyy in a bid to halt the conflict
Turkey's leader and the UN chief met in Ukraine with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday in a high-level bid to slow down a war raging for nearly six months -- with minimal results, reports claim.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would follow up with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, given that most of the matters discussed would require the Kremlin's agreement.
With the meetings held at such a high level — it was the first visit to Ukraine by Erdogan since the war broke out and the second by Guterres — some had hoped for breakthroughs, if not toward an overall peace, then at least on specific issues. But none was apparent.
Meeting in the western city of Lviv, far from the front lines, the leaders discussed such things as expanding exchanges of prisoners of war and arranging for UN atomic energy experts to visit and help secure Europe's biggest nuclear power plant, which is in the middle of fierce fighting that has raised fears of a catastrophe.
Erdogan has positioned himself as a go-between in an effort to stop the fighting. While Turkey is a member of NATO, its wobbly economy is reliant on Russia for trade, and it has tried to steer a middle course between the two combatants.
On the broader topic of peace efforts, the Turkish president urged the international community after the talks not to abandon diplomatic efforts to end the war that has killed tens of thousands and forced more than 10 million Ukrainians from their homes.
He repeated that Turkey is willing to act as a "mediator and facilitator" and added, "I remain convinced that the war will end at the negotiating table."
In March, Turkey hosted talks in Istanbul between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators, but the effort to end the hostilities
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