ANKARA (Reuters) -Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he urged Turkey to play a key role in any peace process for Ukraine during talks with President Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Wednesday.
The United States agreed on Tuesday to resume military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine after Kyiv said it was ready to support Washington’s proposal for a 30-day ceasefire with Russia, the countries said in a joint statement.
“I have given President Erdogan a clear proposal for Turkey to take on the greatest possible co-responsibility for the peace process, guaranteeing stability and security in our entire region,” Tusk told a joint news conference with the Turkish leader.
“We know well what we want for Ukraine, what we want for the region, what we want for Europe,” he added.
Erdogan said that Ukraine’s decision to support the ceasefire proposal was positive.
“We expect Russia to reciprocate this positive step in the same way,” Erdogan said.
“If the latest development leads to Russia and Ukraine returning to the (negotiating) table, we are ready to provide all forms of contribution, including hosting (talks),” he added.
Turkey and Poland are NATO allies of the United States. Ankara has sought during the three-year Ukraine war to maintain cordial ties with both Kyiv and Moscow.
(Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk and Pawel Florkiewicz in Warsaw, Huseyin Hayatsever in Ankara, writing by Alan Charlish; Editing by Gareth Jones)
