Zelensky sees Erdogan as important player in future security guarantees

President Volodymyr Zelensky said this during a briefing, answering the question of what he expects from Turkey now, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“In the future, in terms of security guarantees, I believe that Turkey can play a very important role. And I talked about this with President Erdogan. He confirmed to me that Turkey will be among the security guarantors for Ukraine. This is important for me. We have a good relationship with President Erdogan, and we really see him as one of the important players in security guarantees for Turkey’s part of the Black Sea security. There are all the possibilities for that,” he said.

Asked whether he plans to visit Turkey in the near future, Zelensky said that he always visits Turkey with pleasure.

“As for the visit, it always depends on the subject of our discussions with President Erdogan and whether there is an opportunity in terms of war, on the situation in Ukraine. I always look at that, because I can agree to go, and then we change the dates. I have done this many times during this war, but this information is different and non-public. [We can talk about this], given the situation on the battlefield, given the security situation,” the head of the Ukrainian state informed.

Commenting on the topic of food security, he recalled that Turkey had previously helped control this situation.

“Unfortunately, this initiative was later blocked by Russia, by the way, the initiative of Turkey as well. But, nevertheless, it is working now,” Zelensky stated.

As reported, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called on the allies to increase pressure on Moscow and offer Ukraine security guarantees to protect it from the “barely disguised” ambitions of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.