Erdogan: Ukraine “deserves” to be a member of NATO

After serving as a mediator in peace talks between Moscow and Kiev last year, the Turkish president demanded a new round of negotiations.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, claims that Ukraine “deserves” to join NATO, despite the fact that Kiev continues to demand a clear path to membership from other alliance members ahead of a significant summit in Lithuania next week.

After meeting with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky in Istanbul on Saturday, Erdogan said Ankara had demonstrated “solidarity” with Kiev and offered “concrete assistance.”

He told reporters, “There is no question that Ukraine deserves membership in NATO.

Zelensky stated that he was “pleased” to hear that Erdogan was on board, and he also mentioned that he had “raised the issue of Ukraine’s invitation to NATO” during their discussion.

The president of Turkey also urged a “return to peace efforts” between Kiev and Moscow. He asserted that despite mediating peace talks last year and making the “most intense efforts” to resolve the crisis, Turkey failed to succeed.

“A fair peace creates no losers,” he said.

On Friday, the Kremlin stressed its “constructive partnership” with Ankara and said it would “very closely follow” the meeting between Zelensky and Erdogan. It also said it would be “interested” to know what the two leaders discuss.

The Turkish president expressed optimism to extend a grain export agreement during the meeting with Zelensky, as well as his intention to welcome his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, for discussions in August in order to maintain food goods flowing through Black Sea ports throughout the situation in Ukraine.

“We expect that rather than every two months, it will be extended at least once every three months. We’ll try to extend it to two years and make an effort in this direction, Erdogan stated.