Turkish president meets NATO chief as Kyiv asks Ankara to host a leaders’ level meeting with Russia.By Anadolu and ReutersPublished On 22 Apr 202622 Apr 2026Turkiye is making efforts to revive negotiations between Russia and Ukraine and bring together the leaders of the warring sides, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.Ankara has maintained good ties with both sides since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listErdogan and Rutte met in the Turkish capital Ankara, the Turkish presidency said on Wednesday.“Erdogan said we were engaged, as Turkiye, for the Ukraine-Russia war to end with peace, and that we are working to revive negotiations and start talks at leaders’ level,” the presidency said in a readout of the meeting.The Turkish president also told Rutte that maintaining transatlantic ties was “indispensable”, but that Ankara expected European NATO allies to take more responsibility for transatlantic security, the presidency said.Separately, Erdogan had a phone call with German Chancellor Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Wednesday, informing him of Ankara’s efforts to achieve a lasting peace through talks in Ukraine, the presidency said.Erdogan told the German leader that the US-Iran war was “starting to weaken Europe” and that the damage from the conflict would increase if world powers failed to intervene with “peace-oriented approaches”.“Erdogan said Turkiye was working to end the Ukraine-Russia war through negotiations and reach lasting peace, just as it is trying with regards to Iran,” the presidency said in a statement after the phone call.Ukraine’s requestEarlier on Wednesday, Kyiv said it had asked Turkiye, a NATO member, to host a leaders’ level meeting with Russia. Advertisement “We asked the Turks about it, we asked some other capitals,” Uk …
