Lara Villalón Istanbul

Istanbul

Updated Friday, March 8, 2024-20:50

In an attempt to rally support to pressure Russia and end the war, Ukrainian President

Volodimir Zelensky

traveled to Istanbul to meet with his Turkish counterpart, Recep

Tayyip Erdogan

.

On his second visit to Turkey in less than a year, Zelensky put a concrete plan on the table.

The Ukrainian leader is trying to rally

support for the so-called Peace Formula

, a series of measures to end the war, which he will present at an international summit hosted by Switzerland.

The initiative calls for the

withdrawal of all Russian troops from Ukraine

, the

reestablishment of the borders marked in 1991

and

a judicial process to hold Russia accountable

for its actions over the past two years.

In the press conference after the meeting, Zelensky indicated that he does not expect Russia to participate in the summit, although he later clarified that "only Russian representatives who want peace" should be present at the meeting.

The Ukrainian leader noted that he had discussed the details of the summit with Erdogan and has publicly thanked him for his support of Ukraine's "sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity."

Turkey

is one of the NATO countries - along with Hungary - that has not imposed sanctions against Russia and maintains

diplomatic and commercial ties with Moscow

.

Ankara has chosen not to opt for a front, maintaining its diplomatic relations with kyiv and even increasing its trade and defense agreements during the course of the war.

This intermediate position has allowed it to act as a

communication channel between the two countries at war

, to achieve some progress.

With UN mediation they forged the grain agreement, which allowed the safe export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, a deal that was suspended by Russia in July 2023.

Erdogan welcomed the summit in Switzerland but offered Zelensky to host another meeting between kyiv and Moscow to reach a permanent ceasefire.

"We are ready to host a peace summit between the two countries

," the president reiterated.

"The Black Sea initiative (grain agreement) prevented a global food crisis. That agreement was also reached in this room," he added.

When asked how it can be ensured that Russia complies with the withdrawal of troops if an agreement is reached, Erdogan responded that Turkey "is in favor of peace" and that "without showing respect, peace cannot be achieved." .

During his visit to Turkey, Zelensky met with Turkish defense companies to

expand bilateral defense trade

.

Following the success of the Turkish Bayraktar drones against the Russian offensive, kyiv reached an agreement to build a Ukrainian factory to produce Turkish drones.

The agreement is bearing fruit and it is expected that the factory can produce about 120 units per year.

Both countries also cooperate on maritime defense, with Turkey building two anti-submarine corvettes. "We have signed an agreement to facilitate trade. We believe that one of the corvettes will be ready to serve Ukraine this year. The second is already under construction "We continue to take joint measures in defense matters," Zelensky declared.

For its part, Ukraine contributed to the construction of engines for the Turkish aerospace industry.

The two leaders also discussed possible formulas to revive the grain agreement that allowed the international export of Ukrainian grain.

Erdogan, who recently proposed a new maritime security agreement in the Black Sea to protect commercial vessels, noted that "talks continue" and that they have seen "positive approaches" in this regard.

"Food security is very important. It is connected with navigation security. All countries surrounding the Black Sea want the grain corridor to work," Zelensky said.