Any attempts at a diplomatic resolution are better than the prospects of a global war, the country’s foreign minister has said
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan at the Ukraine peace conference in Switzerland, June 15, 2024 © Getty Images / Arda Kucukkaya/Anadolu
The peace proposals from Moscow and Kiev are important steps towards an eventual settlement of the Ukraine conflict, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said at the Swiss-hosted Ukraine ‘peace conference’ on Saturday. Ankara’s top diplomat also warned that the fighting could potentially lead to a global conflict.
“We have the Ukrainian peace plan in front of us, and Russia has recently shared some terms. Regardless of the content and the conditions put forward, these are important steps and a glimpse of hope to start with,” Fidan said at the Burgenstock Resort in Switzerland.
Russia was not invited to the event, which Moscow has dismissed as an attempt by the West to “present an ultimatum.” Fidan, however, argued that such meetings have a value, given the risk of a global conflict.
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“It is increasingly becoming a war more than between Russia and Ukraine,” Fidan said, adding that the “war could go beyond Ukraine geographically.”
“We are witnessing further polarization happening. This conflict between Ukraine and Russia is more than a war, it could turn into something more. We face a risk involving weapons of mass destruction.”
Ankara is ready to facilitate peace talks again, as it did in spring 2022, when Russia and Ukraine failed to reach an agreement, Fidan said. He added that Russia’s presence at the Burgenstock talks would have made the event “more results-oriented.”
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Speaking on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin outlined several conditions for peace, including the complete withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, and Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions. The four regions voted in referendums in autumn 2022 to leave Ukraine and join Russia. Kiev and its Western backers view these regions, as well Crimea, as being “illegally occupied” by Russia.
Moscow also said Ukraine must officially become a neutral country and drop its plans to join NATO. Putin previously cited the US-led bloc’s expansion eastwards as one of the root causes of the conflict.
Both Ukraine and its Western supporters have rejected Putin’s proposals, insisting that Ukraine must be restored to its 1991 borders.
