IRIA News

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Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in Ankara on November 19, 2025, with Kyiv signaling a renewed push to accelerate talks aimed at ending the nearly four-year war with Russia.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s “top priority” remained bringing the war to an end and added that discussions would include efforts to resume prisoner exchanges. “Bringing the end of the war closer with all our might is Ukraine’s top priority,” he said, noting that he aimed to “intensify” negotiations.

Ukraine has recently received what officials described as “signals” about a set of U.S. proposals discussed with Russia. A senior Ukrainian official told reporters that Kyiv had played no role in preparing those proposals. The reports triggered the biggest rise in Ukraine’s government bond prices in months.

It remained unclear whether any U.S. representatives would join the Ankara meeting. Special envoy Steve Witkoff was rumored to attend, but his participation was called off hours before the talks.

Turkiye’s Balancing Role

Turkiye maintains ties with both Ukraine and Russia and previously hosted peace talks in 2022. However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said no Russian representative would take part in Wednesday’s meeting in Ankara.

A very productive and substantive meeting with the President of Türkiye, @RTErdogan.

We discussed further defense cooperation – joint production projects and coordination for more effective protection of life. We also addressed the situation in diplomacy, aiming to channel all… pic.twitter.com/xU24pN7nIy

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) November 19, 2025

He added there were “no concrete plans” for President Vladimir Putin to speak to either Turkiye or Witkoff but said Putin was “of course open to a conversation”.

Turkiye’s state agency, Anadolu, confirmed the meeting in Ankara. Attending alongside Erdogan were Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, National Intelligence Director Ibrahim Kalin, and Erdogan’s Chief Adviser on Foreign Policy and Security, Akif Cagatay Kilic.

Zelenskyy’s Regional Diplomatic Push

Ankara is Zelenskyy’s fourth stop in a series of rapid visits across Europe in recent days. In Athens on November 16, Ukraine secured a gas-supply agreement set to begin in January 2026. In Paris on November 17, Kyiv signed a declaration of intent covering defense cooperation and the planned purchase of 100 Rafale fighter jets.

In Madrid on November 18, Zelenskyy met congressional and senate leaders as well as defense companies, with Spain preparing a $6.9 million military aid package and a new reconstruction finance instrument for December 2025.

Domestically, Zelenskyy faces growing political pressure as several close associates come under investigation for allegedly co-organizing a large-scale criminal scheme. Ukraine’s parliament dismissed both the energy and justice ministers on Wednesday.

The scandal has raised concerns among some EU leaders ahead of a December decision on whether to unlock $161 billion in loans for Kyiv using frozen Russian assets, with calls for stronger anti-corruption measures.

Possibility of Ukraine-Russia Peace Talks

Efforts to revive peace talks appear to be gaining momentum, although Moscow has shown no willingness to revise its terms. Earlier in November, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated that Russia’s conditions, laid out by Putin in 2024, remained unchanged.

They include Ukraine renouncing any intention to join NATO and withdrawing from the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions.

Zelenskyy has repeatedly rejected those conditions, arguing that withdrawing from the Donbas would leave Ukraine open to future attacks. Kyiv also maintains that Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, must be addressed in any settlement.

The United States has sought to mediate, with Witkoff previously suggesting after a long meeting with Putin in April that a potential peace deal would hinge on the status of contested regions and Crimea. The remarks caused tensions with Kyiv, with Zelenskyy accusing him of “disseminating Russian narratives”. The two have not met since early September.

American diplomatic engagement has continued discreetly. Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev reportedly travelled to Washington in late October for talks with Witkoff, days after President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies.

Trump had also explored the possibility of another meeting with Putin in Budapest, but the plan was abandoned after U.S. officials concluded Moscow would not shift on demands Kyiv viewed as unacceptable.

War Situation and Military Engagements

Russian forces control about 19% of Ukrainian territory and continue offensive operations while striking civilian and energy infrastructure. Overnight attacks killed 25 people as winter conditions set in.

No face-to-face talks between Kyiv and Moscow have taken place since July in Istanbul. Turkiye’s earlier attempt to mediate in 2022 marked the only previous direct negotiation round until the recent U.S. initiative.

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that Russian representatives would not join the Ankara discussions, but Putin remained open to conversations with the U.S. and Turkiye regarding any outcomes.

US Delegation Expected in Kyiv

As part of Washington’s parallel diplomatic track, a U.S. delegation led by Army Secretary Dan Driscoll arrived in Kyiv on a “fact-finding mission”, according to the U.S. embassy. Army Chief of Staff General Randy George is also part of the delegation, and both are scheduled to meet Zelenskyy on Thursday, a source familiar with the visit said.

The renewed diplomatic activity comes as both sides prepare for the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, with each maintaining fundamentally opposing positions on how to end the conflict.