Turkish foreign minister to visit Russia, Ukraine for talks

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu is set to visit Russia, followed by Ukraine, amid ongoing diplomatic efforts to end the war between the two countries, Turkey's president said on Tuesday.

Çavuşoğlu will hold talks in Moscow on Wednesday before traveling to Ukraine on Thursday, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said after chairing a nearly three-hour-long Cabinet meeting in the capital Ankara.

This comes days after Çavuşoğlu hosted a landmark tripartite meeting with his counterparts from these two countries on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, held last week in southern Turkey. Nearly 400 local and foreign journalists came to the resort city to follow the meeting.

"The Ukraine crisis has reminded us that it is not a choice but an obligation for Turkey to be strong in the political, economic, and military fields and to be in a position to support its friends and brothers beyond its self-sufficiency," he said.

Erdoğan added that he would meet with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda on Wednesday in Ankara.

On the Antalya Diplomacy Forum and recent visits by world leaders to Turkey, Erdoğan said his country was shoring up its position as a center for diplomacy.

"I believe the Antalya Diplomacy Forum is a critical platform in terms of both the profile of the participants, the messages given there, and our country's attitude towards regional and global developments," he said and thanked everyone who contributed to the forum.

More than 3,000 people attended the forum, which was held on March 11-13 under the theme of "Recoding Diplomacy." Anadolu Agency was the global communication partner of the event, which gathered participants from 75 countries, including 17 heads of state, 80 ministers, and 39 representatives of international organizations.

The Russia-Ukraine war, which began Feb. 24, has drawn international condemnation, led to financial sanctions on Moscow, and spurred an exodus of global firms from Russia.

At least 636 civilians have been killed and 1,125 injured in Ukraine since the beginning of the war. More than 3 million refugee.