Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on September 27, 2023, in Ankara. (Credit: AFP.)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan once again proposed on Monday to bring together Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and U.S. President Donald Trump in a summit, "in Istanbul or Ankara."
"My greatest wish [...] is to bring together [Vladimir] Putin and [Volodymyr] Zelensky in Istanbul or Ankara and to bring Trump to their side. If they accept, I will join them, to make Istanbul a center of peace," he declared after a second meeting between Russian and Ukrainian delegations on Monday in Istanbul.
The head of state considered that holding "the meeting is a success in itself, after yesterday's events," referring specifically to the bold drone attack launched by Kiev on Sunday against military airfields deep in Russian territory.
This operation, unprecedented since the beginning of the conflict, targeted four Russian military airfields and struck several dozen aircraft, including strategic bombers, as far as Siberia, far from the front, according to Ukrainian security services (SBU).