Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on April 22, 2026
2 min readLast updated: April 22, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleUkraine has formally requested Türkiye to host a summit between President Zelenskiy and President Putin, excluding venues in Russia or Belarus, as Kyiv tries to restart stalled peace negotiations.
KYIV, April 22 (Reuters) - Ukraine has asked Turkey to host a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, its top diplomat said, as Kyiv seeks to reinvigorate stalling peace talks.
"We asked the Turks about it, we asked some other capitals," Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in comments to reporters on Tuesday that were cleared for release on Wednesday.
He added that Ukraine would be ready to consider any place other than Belarus or Russia for a meeting with Putin, which Zelenskiy has long sought to try to hasten a resolution of the more than four-year war.
Belarus is a close ally of Russia and allowed Moscow to use Belarusian territory to launch its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Sybiha did not say how Ankara had responded to the proposal.
"We addressed the Turks specifically," he said. "But if another capital, besides Moscow and Belarus, organises such a meeting, we will go."
The Kremlin previously said it is willing to host Zelenskiy in Moscow, where the Ukrainian leader has said he will not go.
Separately, Sybiha said that he had already exchanged written messages with Anita Orban, who will become Hungary's new foreign minister when the new government, which won the election there earlier this month, takes power.
(Reporting by Max Hunder; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Thomas Derpinghaus)
Ukraine seeks a neutral location outside of Russia and Belarus to revive peace talks between President Zelenskiy and President Putin.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha did not disclose how Turkey responded to Ukraine's proposal for hosting the meeting.
Ukraine refuses Moscow and Belarus since Belarus is a close ally of Russia and was used as a base for the invasion.
Yes, Ukraine is willing to consider any capital other than Moscow or Minsk for hosting the meeting with Putin.
Ukraine hopes that a direct meeting between the presidents will accelerate a resolution of the ongoing war.
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