Turkish FM Hakan Fidan to attend 3rd meeting of Ukraine-Southeast Europe Summit

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will visit the Croatian city of Dubrovnik on Wednesday to attend the third meeting of the Ukraine-Southeast Europe Summit.

The summit, which was first held in the Greek capital Athens in August 2023 and then in Tirana, Albania in February 2024, brings together leaders from Ukraine and regional countries.

The third summit, hosted by Croatia and Ukraine, is also expected to include heads of state or government and foreign ministers from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Greece.

Representation from the European Commission is also anticipated.

In his address at the summit, Fidan, who is attending on behalf of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is expected to reiterate Ankara's support for efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war and establish a fair and lasting solution based on international law, emphasizing the importance of a negotiation process involving all parties for a diplomatic resolution.

Fidan also plans to hold meetings on the situation in Ukraine and regional developments.

He recently represented President Erdoğan at the Summit on Peace in Ukraine held in Switzerland on June 15-16.

Since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, Türkiye has been pursuing bilateral and multilateral initiatives and maintaining contact with the warring parties, taking steps to alleviate the effects of the war in both humanitarian and economic dimensions.

After the war began, Türkiye hosted the first meetings where Russian and Ukrainian representatives came together in March 2022.

It facilitated the export of approximately 33 million tons of Ukrainian grain under the UN and Black Sea Grain Corridor Initiative and acted as a mediator in the exchange of prisoners between the parties.

Ankara will continue to play an active diplomatic role in restoring peace and stability in the region.