Turkish President and UN chief hold talks with Zelenskyy in Ukraine

Europe, Middle East, News August 18, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arrived in the city of Lviv on August 18 to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The trilateral meeting was meant to celebrate the success of the grain export deal that allowed Ukraine to resume exports of its agriculture products via the Black Sea. President Erdogan and UN Secretary-General Guterres played a significant role in materializing the breakthrough grains export deal between Russia and Ukraine.

The agriculture exports from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports are resuming gradually. On July 24 a ship carrying food left the port for the first time since the invasion of Ukraine started earlier this year. Ukraine is expected to export 948,000 metric tons of grains in one month, roughly half of what it had exported during the same time last year.

Turkiye has been playing an active role to facilitate diplomatic talks between Russia and Ukraine. President Erdogan has been in touch with Russian President Vladimir Putin on several occasions including an in-person meeting with him last week that took place in Sochi, Russia. However, this was also the first time that the Turkish President met face-to-face with his Ukrainian Counterpart since the Russian invasion of Ukraine started in February 2022.

*^{Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Lviv, Ukraine on August 18, 2022. (Image Credit: Twitter/@RTErdogan)}*

While speaking at a post-meeting press conference in Lviv, the Turkish President said that “While continuing our efforts to find a solution (to the conflict), we remain on the side of our Ukraine friends.”

Apart from discussing the grains export deal, the three-way meeting also focused on Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. Europe’s largest nuclear facility in Enerhodar, Ukraine, has become a topic of discussion over the last few weeks in the light of the military standoff between Russia and Ukraine, sparking fears of an unprecedented nuclear disaster. “We are worried. We do not want another Chernobyl,” said the Turkish President during the press conference.

The trilateral meeting comes a day after NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on IAEA to inspect Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels that Russia’s seizure of the plant “poses a serious threat to the safety and the security of this facility (and) raises the risks of a nuclear accident or incident”.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L), Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, and UN Secretary General António Guterres(R) shake hands at the end of a joint press conference in Lviv, Ukraine on August 18, 2022 — ^{Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L), Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres(R) shake hands at the end of a joint press conference in Lviv, Ukraine on August 18, 2022. (Image Credit: Twitter/@RTErdogan)}

President Zelenskyy also spoke on the topic of the nuclear power plant during the press conference where he stated “The Russian army must withdraw from the territory of the nuclear power plant and all neighboring areas, and take away its military equipment from the plant.”

Zelenskyy stressed that “This must happen without any conditions and as soon as possible.” He also said that Ukrainian diplomats and experts are in constant touch with the representatives of the IAEA on this matter and that they want to facilitate the inspection mission of the nuclear facility at the earliest.