The tripartite summit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has begun. The UN chief and the two presidents met in Lviv in western Ukraine on Thursday, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu News Agency reported. There will be a press conference after the meeting, but according to the UN, this should not be broadcast live.
For the United Nations and Turkey, the meeting is about an attempt to explore a negotiated solution almost six months after the Russian attack on Ukraine. In addition, the situation in the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which is occupied by Russian troops, and the possibilities of an international expert mission. On Wednesday evening, Zelenskyi again called for Russian soldiers to be withdrawn from Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
Selenskyj had already met Guterres for talks in the afternoon. “Particular attention was paid to Russia’s nuclear blackmail at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant,” said a statement from the presidential office published on Thursday. The United Nations must ensure the security of this strategic object with demilitarization and the withdrawal of Russian forces, it said.
Guterres and Zelenskyy met in the Potocki Palace in the western Ukrainian metropolis of Lviv (Lemberg), about 60 kilometers from the Polish border. According to Turkish media reports, Selenskyj then also had bilateral talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
