Russia Erdogan urges Kiev and Moscow to hold new Istanbul talks
Against the backdrop of serious Russian attacks on Ukraine, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on Kiev and Moscow to continue negotiations in Istanbul. The talks are important against the backdrop of the "grueling effects of the war for both sides", Erdogan said at a joint press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyi in Ankara.
19.11.2025, 18:11
19.11.2025, 18:12
SDA
Selenskyj agreed with Erdogan on the issue of negotiations. "We hope for the strength of Turkish diplomacy and that it will be understood in Moscow." Without being more specific, the Ukrainian mentioned that "many processes are active". Kiev is also trying to resume the exchange of prisoners with Russia. "We hope to resume the exchanges by the end of the year," said Selensky. Last weekend, the Secretary of the Ukrainian Security Council, Rustem Umyerov, wrote about preparations for the exchange of 1,200 Ukrainian prisoners of war following talks in Turkey, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. There has been no confirmation of this from the Russian side so far.
According to Selensky, he wanted to hold talks in Turkey to revive negotiations with Russia to end the war. However, according to the Kremlin, there were no Russian representatives there. Turkey has already hosted peace negotiations on several occasions. Erdogan has good contacts with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.
Meanwhile, Russia has carried out one of the heaviest Russian airstrikes on western Ukraine. Selenskyj spoke on social networks of more than 470 attacks with drones and 48 attacks with rockets and cruise missiles during the night. Meanwhile, Ukraine attacked targets in the Russian hinterland with US ATACMS missiles for the first time - this time in the Voronezh region.
Ukraine has been defending itself against the Russian war of aggression for more than three and a half years. The Russian Ministry of Defense announced, without mentioning the many civilian casualties, that objects of the military-industrial complex and energy infrastructure in Ukraine had been attacked.
