Turkey will not change its position sharply on the war in Ukraine or openly pressure Russia during peace talks, as it is primarily protecting its own interests. However, such neutrality also has strategic benefits for Kyiv.
This was stated by the Ambassador of Ukraine to Turkey, Nariman Jelal, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
“ In Turkey, they understand everything perfectly, perhaps in their own way. Our task is to convey our position to them. But we must be realistic: Turkey primarily protects its own interests. Therefore, we should not have unrealistic expectations. As for its neutrality in the negotiation process, they are still fully fulfilling the function of a facilitator ,” the diplomat noted.
According to him, it is the balance between supporting Ukraine's sovereignty and the absence of hard pressure on Moscow that allows Ankara to remain an acceptable platform for negotiations.
“ Russia no longer perceives European countries that fully support Ukraine as a possible platform for diplomacy. Turkey, thanks to its position – somewhere a step towards us, somewhere a step towards the Russians – has the opportunity to be such a platform. This is important for us too. Sooner or later we will need to come to an agreement, and for this we need to communicate ,” the ambassador emphasized.
He recalled that the meetings in Istanbul had already yielded important results, in particular, agreements on the exchange of prisoners of war.
“ The humanitarian track is an opportunity to release our people and at the same time maintain interest in the Istanbul process, while there is no significant progress on the main topic - a ceasefire. It is like heating the oven to bake a dish at the right moment ,” explained Celal.
He stressed that the main task now is to force Russia to change its position through support for the Ukrainian Defense Forces and sanctions pressure. And key international leaders, including the US President and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, are needed as "authoritative witnesses to the conversation and guarantors of the agreements reached."
