Turkish president heads to Ukraine for talks

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday embarked on a visit to the Ukrainian city of Lviv where he will meet his Ukrainian counterpart and the UN chief.

Erdogan will hold a bilateral meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Potocki Palace and discuss all aspects of Türkiye-Ukraine relations at the strategic partnership level.

The bilateral talks will be followed by a trilateral summit with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Erdogan, Zelenskyy and Guterres will discuss steps that can be taken to end the Ukraine-Russia war through diplomatic means, by increasing the activities of the mechanism established for the export of Ukrainian grain to the world markets, according to the Turkish presidency.

They are expected to hold a joint news conference after the trilateral meeting.

On July 22, Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine signed a deal in Istanbul to reopen three Ukrainian Black Sea ports for exporting Ukrainian grain stuck due to the Russia-Ukraine war, which is now in its sixth month.

To oversee the process, the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) in Istanbul was officially launched on July 27, comprising representatives from the three countries and the UN, to enable the safe transportation of commercial foodstuffs and fertilizers by merchant ships.

According to the UN, Guterres is also scheduled to visit the Ukrainian port city of Odesa to view the movement of grain following the trilateral meeting.

Guterres will head to Türkiye on Saturday and visit the JCC in Istanbul.