(Finance) – “Personally, I believe that we can put an end to the war at the negotiating table”. This is what Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during the press conference at the end of trilateral vertex between the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskythe Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoganand the UN secretary general Antonio Guterres, held this afternoon at the Potocki Palace in Lviv, Ukraine. An opinion that – as Erdogan pointed out – is also shared by Zelensky and Guterres.
The first face to face between Zelensky and Erdogan since the Russian invasion has seen issues of bilateral and regional security at the center. In addition to the Minister of Defense, the Turkish delegation that accompanied Erdogan was composed, among others, of the Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, the Minister of Energy Fatih Donmez, the Minister of Agriculture Vahit Kirisci, the Minister of Commerce Mehmet Mus , the head of the secret services of Ankara Hakan Fidan and the president of the Turkish defense industry Ismail Demir.
During the meeting it was Ankara and Kiev signed an agreement for the reconstruction of infrastructures destroyed during the war between Russia and Ukraine. “We will give the necessary support for the reconstruction of Ukraine – he said Erdogan -. As we continue to pursue our efforts for a solution to the conflict, we remain on the side of our Ukrainian friends. We support the integrity and territorial sovereignty of Ukraine. “Since the conflict with Russia began, Turkey is temporarily hosting 325 thousand refugees from Ukraine.
Reaffirming its role of mediation Turkey said it was ready to host talks between Russia and Ukraine in order to reach a ceasefire which had been started in Istanbul. “We are ready – said Erdogan – to implement our role as facilitators and mediators with the aim of resuming the negotiations. We have underlined how the international community should take more responsibility to relaunch the diplomatic process”.
“Concrete negotiations to stop the war in Ukraine are still a long way off – commented the deputy spokesman for the UN secretary general, Farhan Haq -. Guterres discussed efforts to advance the cause of peace, but we are still a long way from the moment when efforts for a complete cessation of hostilities can be discussed. The heart of the problem remains war. The Russian invasion is a violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the UN Charter. Hence, the secretary general is continuing to try to resolve them. Although there are several initiatives underway – Haq said – we are far from when we will be able to talk about the efforts to put an end to the fighting in general “.
Concern at the summit was expressed about the situation of the Ukrainian nuclear power plant of Zaporizhzhia. “Any potential damage to Zaporizhzhia is suicide,” he said Guterres -. Common sense must prevail to avoid any action that could endanger the physical integrity or safety of the nuclear plant. An agreement is urgently needed to re-establish Zaporizhia as a purely civil infrastructure and to guarantee the security of the area. “Guterres then stressed that” in close contact with the IAEA, the United Nations Secretariat has assessed that in Ukraine we have the logistical capacity and to support any Atomic Energy Agency mission to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant from Kiev, provided Russia and Ukraine agree. We must not – he added – spare efforts to ensure that the facilities or the surroundings of the plant are not a target of military operations. Military equipment and personnel should be withdrawn from the facility and further deployment of forces or equipment to the site should be avoided but the area should be demilitarized. “
Satisfaction was expressed by Guterres for theIstanbul Agreement. “In less than a month, 21 ships left from Ukrainian ports and 15 ships left Istanbul for Ukraine to fill up with grain and other food supplies. As we speak, over 560,000 tons of grain and other Ukrainian farmers’ food are on their way. to markets around the world – said the UN secretary general -. The positive momentum on the food front reflects a victory for diplomacy, for multilateralism, it is an unprecedented agreement, but it is only the beginning. Fertilizers from Ukraine and Russia in larger quantities are essential to further calm commodity markets and lower prices. We will do our best to increase our operations and face the difficult winter ahead. ” Guterres said he was pleased that the first ship used by the United Nations carrying Ukrainian grain is on its way to meet the needs of people suffering from the worst drought in the Horn of Africa in decades. “In the meantime, and critically, we have seen signs that global food markets are starting to stabilize. Wheat prices have fallen by as much as 8% after the agreements were signed, the FAO Food Price Index. It fell 9% in July, the biggest drop since 2008. Most food products are now trading at prices below pre-war levels. But let’s be under no illusions: there’s still a long way to go before this translates into improvements in people’s daily lives “.
“The whole world has begun to perceive the positive effects of the Istanbul agreement which made possible the safe export of Ukrainian wheat across the Black Sea,” he commented. Erdogan. Since the first ship left Ukraine on August 1, the Turkish president said, about 625,000 tons of Ukrainian cereals have been shipped with 25 ships.