President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to hold talks with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday on the latest leg of a tour to push Ukraine’s bid to join NATO and secure more weapons from allies.
The talks in Istanbul come on the eve of the 500th day since Russian’s invasion, with Zelensky admitting a widely anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive was progressing slowly.
“But nevertheless, we are advancing, not retreating, like Russians,” Zelensky told reporters. “We now have the initiative.”
The talks with Erdogan — an important broker in the conflict — are due to focus on an expiring deal to ship Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea as well as next week’s NATO summit.
Analysts expect Zelensky to push Erdogan to give a green light for Sweden’s NATO membership ahead of the July 11-12 meet in Lithuanian capital Vilnius.
Turkey is blocking Sweden’s candidacy because of a longstanding dispute about Stockholm’s perceived lax attitude toward alleged Kurdish militants living in the Nordic country.বিস্তারিত