Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov gave a joint news conference following their meeting at the presidential complex in Ankara, where the war in Ukraine and the situation in Syria were on the top of the agenda.
Türkiye says that there may again be grounds for talks between the two countries, as the Russia-Ukraine war continues past the 100-day mark.
Türkiye’s Foreign Minister said during the joint news conference, “We see a common will between Russia and Ukraine to return to negotiations.”
Cavusoglu underlined Ankara sees UN plans to establish a mechanism for a food corridor out of Ukraine as “reasonable and feasible,” saying that the two officials had a “fruitful” meeting.
Russia’s demands for the removal of sanctions to help with grain exports were also called by the Turkish foreign minister as “legitimate.”
Cavusoglu said terrorist groups threatening the war-torn country had also upped the ante against Türkiye, with regards to fighting terrorism in Syria.
Cavusoglu added that Ankara voiced its expectation from the US and Russia to fulfill their commitments against terrorist organizations in Syria and abide by agreements signed in October 2019.
After reaching an agreement with Türkiye during Ankara’s Operation Peace Spring in 2019, Russia expressed its commitment to remove the PKK/YPG terrorist organization from the Tal Rifaat and Manbij areas in northwestern Syria.
Terrorists were also promised to be removed by Russia from areas up to 30 kilometers from the Turkish border until the M4 road and in the area adjacent to the Operation Peace Spring zone.
According to Lavrov, both ministers additionally discussed negotiations of the Syrian Constitutional Committee in Geneva that ended on Friday, seeking a solution to the ongoing civil war.
