Erdogan and Putin May be in Talks About Ukraine in Kazakhstan

According to the Kremlin, President Putin may talk with his Turkish counterpart Erdogan at a summit in Kazakhstan this week about a Turkish proposal to mediate between Russia and the West again.

Erdogan is the leader of a NATO member state and has been trying to mediate between Ukraine and Russia since the Russian invasion of Ukraine started. However, unlike many Western countries, Turkey has not declared any sanctions against Russia.

Erdogan maintains good relations with both belligerent countries and has managed to keep the shipment of food products from Ukrainian ports out of the fray. In addition, a temporary agreement was signed between Russia, Ukraine and the UN in July. According to the UN, that agreement is likely to be extended in November.

An Asian CICA summit will be held on Wednesday and Thursday in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana. 26 Asian countries and one African country (Egypt) are members of the CICA (Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia) consultation group. Erdogan and Putin are both expected at the conference. Ukraine refuses to negotiate with Putin, but the White House said last weekend that the warring parties must find a way to bring the war to an end with negotiations.

A top executive in the White House. John Kirby said over the weekend that the US government wants to end the current crisis quickly. “Kyiv and Moscow must find a way out of this and walk the path of the diplomatic settlement”.