Fidan’s two-day Kiev visit focuses on strategic partnership
ANKARA
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s two-day visit to Kiev will serve as a platform for Türkiye and Ukraine to evaluate ways to deepen their bilateral relationship and strategic partnership, according to Turkish diplomatic sources.
Fidan is scheduled to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Presidential Office head Kyrylo Budabov, National Security and Defense Council chief Rustem Umerov, as well as Crimean Tatars leader Mustafa Abdülcemil Kırımoğlu and other officials.
The visit comes a week after the NATO summit in Ankara and a month after Fidan’s visit to Russia.
In a brief statement before his departure from Poland to Ukraine, Fidan said that his meetings with Ukrainian officials will pave the way for a broad assessment of the situation in the field and efforts to bring an end to the war with Russia.
“I hope that our visit to Kiev will positively contribute to the peace efforts,” he stated, recalling that Türkiye hosted negotiations between the two sides in 2025.
He also noted that he would convey President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s messages to Zelensky.
Fidan will exchange views with his Ukrainian counterparts about mutual steps to boost bilateral ties and deepen strategic cooperation, focusing heavily on the economy, energy and defense, according to the sources.
He will reiterate Türkiye’s support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity while underscoring the continued support pledged to Ukraine on almost all platforms.
Regarding the stalled peace efforts between Russia and Ukraine, Türkiye’s top diplomat will reaffirm Ankara’s readiness to bring the warring sides together and help broker a fair and lasting agreement.
War shouldn’t spread to Black Sea
The talks in Kiev will also focus on the course of the war, which poses a great danger to the entire region, including the Black Sea where civilian vessels were targeted recently.
Fidan will stress that targeting ports, ships and fishermen can never be acceptable and underline that Türkiye will decisively continue its diplomatic engagements to prevent the spread of the war to the Black Sea and keep it a stable basin.
During the visit, Fidan will once again make clear that Türkiye is against Russia’s unlawful annexation of Crimea and discuss ways to strengthen the rights of the Crimean Tatars with Ukrainian officials.
Ukraine approves FTA with Türkiye
Fidan and his Ukrainian counterparts will also discuss economic and trade cooperation as the Ukrainian parliament ratified the Free Trade Agreement with Türkiye just before the talks in Kiev.
The agreement was signed in February 2022, but Russia’s war delayed its ratification for four years. The deal will finally take effect once it receives Zelensky’s ultimate approval.
The sources underlined that implementing the agreement will help the two countries increase their trade volume from the current $6.2 billion to $10 billion.