Turkey says situation of Russia-Ukraine conflict changed, 'Not in our hands to stop war'

The diplomatic process to settle the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has become "more complicated," Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said at a White House press briefing during his visit to Washington, DC on Thursday, January 19, as he met with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to finalise F-16 fighter jets deal.

While Ankara has been making robust efforts to initiate negotiations and put an end to hostilities, “It is not entirely in our hands to stop the war," Cavusoglu noted.

Turkish minister reminded of his country's crucial role in mediation between the warring nations, and its initial efforts in brokering the Black Sea grain deal with the participation of the United Nations. Cavusoglu on Thursday stressed that the situation in the Ukraine conflict “has now changed.” 

Russia and Ukraine covered “quite a distance in the beginning, and the parties came closer to at least a ceasefire,” said the Turkish Foreign Minister, adding that the situation “had evolved, unfortunately.”

 “It has become more complex and has different dimensions. Unfortunately, many more different areas to negotiate have emerged,” he added.

'War will end at the table': Turkish FM

Turkish Foreign Minister had earlier stated that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine can only be resolved through diplomacy and not with combat. "One way or another, this war will end at the table,” he had predicted at a conference on Turkey's enterprising and humanitarian foreign policy in the capital city of Ankara. “We do not think it will end with military gains on the ground. Even so, there is a risk that the war could last for decades," he had noted ahead of the high-level tripartite meeting between Turkey, Russia, and Ukraine at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.

While the Turkish Foreign Minister had a shift of tone about prospects of peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow, he acknowledged that there was still a need for keeping the communication channels open with respect to prisoners of war [POWs] swaps and mitigating risks including at the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia region that witnessed heavy infighting and shelling. 

Turkish minister reiterated that there is some form of communication between Russia and the US to deter the use of nuclear weapons. He was referring to a bilateral meeting between the head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Sergey Naryshkin, and CIA Director William Burns. Kremlin this week noted that another meeting between the two spy chiefs would be crucial, not revealing the exact date of such a dialogue. In his remarks to the state-affiliated agencies, Naryshkin cryptically mentioned that another meeting with CIA's Burns was "possible". One such meeting took place in Ankara in mid-November, 2022.