Thursday, the Turkish president, his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, and the secretary general of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, notably mentioned the exports of Ukrainian cereals and the situation at the nuclear power plant of Zaporijia.
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Arrived Thursday August 18 in Lviv (Ukraine) from Poland, Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was received by his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, at the entrance to the Palais Potocki, a mansion > E century where there have been consecrated talks, between the lines, in search of a solution to the conflict that ravages Ukraine.
Firm handshake, friendly looks, the two leaders appreciate themselves, it’s visible. Warm, Mr. Zelensky thanked Mr. Erdogan for his visit, the first since the start of the war, which he described as a “powerful support message” to his country.
After having maintained themselves for forty-five minutes, the two presidents were joined by the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), Antonio Guterres. Together, they mentioned the necessary intensification of exports of Ukrainian cereals via the Black Sea, the fate of prisoners of war and, above all, the alarming situation which prevails at the Zaporijia nuclear power plant, occupied by the Russian army, instrumentalized by The Kremlin for the needs of its offensive.
In recent days, the intense fights that take place around and on the very site of the power plant have a disaster feared. “We are not going to relive a new Chernobyl,” said Erdogan, referring to the most important civilian nuclear accident in Europe, which occurred after the explosion, on April 26, 1986, of reactor number 4 of the power station de Chernobyl, not far from kyiv.
bring the belligerents to the negotiation table
The UN must ensure “the security of this strategic site, its demilitarization and its complete release of the Russian troops”, said Mr. Zelensky, deploring the “deliberate terror” inflicted by Moscow on Ukraine, region and the rest of the world.
At the end of their interviews, the Ukrainian president and Mr. Guterres have agreed with a next mission from the International Atomic Energy Agency (AIEA) at the Zaporijia power station. According to the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kouleba, the director general of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, is ready to go to the site, which, everyone is suitable, must be demilitarized. It is not certain that Russia consents to it.
Only Recep Tayyip Erdogan has the answer to this question. Committed to a difficult diplomatic balance exercise, supporting kyiv without angry Moscow, he is currently the only leader to have the ear of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, since his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, and the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholtz , have given up their attempts to bring him back to reason. In recent weeks, Mr. Putin and Mr. Erdogan have been twice, once in Tehran and then, on August 5, in Sochi, on the edges of the Black Sea. Nothing has filtered four hours of conversation they had in the Russian seaside city. Only certainty: the Turkish president came out as the best placed to convince the master of the Kremlin to negotiate.
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