MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Turkey entices Latin American leaders to get Putin, Zelensky to discuss end to war

Bolsonaro willing to broker leaders' group to smooth things up for Zelensky and Putin to negotiate an end to the Ukraine crisis, Çavuşoğlu said

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu insisted over the weekend that the Government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was conducting a series of efforts to organize a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.

The words from Turkey’s top diplomat came after he rounded up a tour of Latin American countries, where he claimed to have garnered enough support from local leaders in that regard.

“Our president [Recep Tayyip Erdoğan] is holding negotiations with both leaders,” Çavuşoğlu was quoted as saying.

“We are sincerely proceeding with our efforts. Our president also calls them when it is necessary, while they call him,” he added.

Regarding NATO’s possible involvement in the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Çavuşoğlu explained that the stance of the alliance of which his country is a member was clear: It does not “intend to become involved in the Ukrainian conflict..., [but] in the event of the smallest attack on any ally we will respond adequately.”

According to Çavuşoğlu, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has announced his willingness to organize a visit of leaders of a number of states, including Erdogan, to Russia for a settlement to the situation in Ukraine.

“Venezuela has good relations with Russia. Both Brazil and Venezuela said the war should be stopped. Brazil's President said if it benefits President Erdogan he can organize a visit to Moscow jointly with leaders of several states. We said we would like to contribute to those efforts. We will address the issue and give a reply,” Çavuşoğlu added according to the Sabah newspaper quoted by Russian news service TASS.

However, Çavuşoğlu did not provide any details on when such a visit might be held and who might participate in it.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not rule out a meeting between Putin and Zelensky, adding though that it should be properly prepared to be fruitful.

Çavuşoğlu's other stops in Latin America seemed to have yielded better results than the poor image he left in Montevideo with his far-right gestures.

(Source: TASS)