Lavrov In Turkey As Ankara Pushes For Ukraine Peace Talks

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is meeting with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan on the sidelines of the Anatalya Diplomacy Forum as Ankara seeks to push for peace talks in Ukraine and the resumption of the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Earlier in the week Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a video message to the Ukraine–South East Europe Summit in Tirana, Albania that included Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy among its attendees, that "We are ready to re-establish the negotiating table to build peace like we did in Istanbul previously," referring to ultimately fruitless talks that took place in 2022.

• Erdogan also talked up his hopes for a resumption of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, saying "We need an arrangement that guarantees the safe navigation of commercial vessels in the Black Sea...To this end, we are continuing our contacts to receive commitments in terms of security,"
• On 29 Feb, Russian Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev claimed that Russia was not interested in renewing the deal that collapsed in mid-2023.
• Turkey remains one of the only NATO member states that maintains regular diplomatic contact with Russia, and as such is seen as one of the most likely brokers of any talks. While there is speculation that Zelenskyy is coming under increasing Western pressure to think about talks, and Russia continues to haemorrhage money and troops in its current offensive in the Donbas, there appears little signal of any negotiations in the offing at present.