Turkey eyes pivotal peacekeeping role in Ukraine dispute
Turkey, which has the second-largest army in NATO, expressed its readiness to send its troops as part of peacekeeping forces to Ukraine, Bloomberg reports. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held talks about this mission with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
According to Bloomberg's sources, Turkey does not intend to participate in a peacekeeping mission unless it can be involved in all the talks and preparations concerning its establishment. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan emphasized that Ankara will play a key role in establishing peace and maintaining a ceasefire in Ukraine.
At the same time, Sergey Lavrov declared that Russia is not considering any options related to deploying European forces in Ukraine. He described such an idea as a "ploy" aimed at allowing Ukraine to rearm.
Conflicting reports on Russia’s reaction
Earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump, during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, stated that Vladimir Putin would accept European peacekeeping forces in Ukraine as part of an agreement to halt fighting.
Turkey, with more than 800,000 troops, including reservists, is ready to take action as part of a peacekeeping mission.
