Russia-Ukraine Peace Settlement Attempt 'Sabotaged' in March 2022 - Erdogan

ANTALYA, Turkiye (Sputnik) - The attempt to reach a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine in March 2022 was "sabotaged," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday.

"The Ukrainian crisis has moved into its third year. Here in Antalya, the Istanbul process was launched. At that time, hopes for peace reached a new level. But unfortunately, due to the lack of the necessary support, our efforts have failed. The historic opportunity to achieve peace, to save tens of thousands of lives from destruction and to save tens of thousands of lives was actually missed, or, more precisely, sabotaged," Erdogan said at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.

Erdogan said that Turkiye is ready to "re-establish the negotiation table" for peacebuilding in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, according to Turkish media. pic.twitter.com/N2CYGR7O29

— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) February 28, 2024

The diplomatic forum in the Turkish city of Antalya is taking place from March 1-3.

Moscow launched its special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Russian and Ukrainian delegations engaged in several rounds of peace talks, including in Turkiye in March 2022, in the early days of the conflict. In October 2022, Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree stating that Kiev could not hold peace talks as long as President Vladimir Putin is in power in Russia.

In November 2023, Ukraine’s former chief negotiator with Russia, David Arakhamia, said then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson talked Kiev out of signing an agreement with Moscow to end the conflict in spring 2022. Johnson denies it.