Zelenskyy meets with President Erdoğan in Ankara for bilateral talks

“President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met at the Presidential Complex with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is on a working visit to Turkey,” the statement said.

Zelenskyy arrived in Turkey on Nov. 19. He was met in Ankara by National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov.

On Nov. 18, Reuters journalist Guy Faulconbridge, citing a Turkish source, reported that U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, would visit Turkey on Nov. 19 and hold talks with the Ukrainian leader.

Later, Oliver Carroll, a correspondent for The Economist, said the planned talks between Witkoff and the head of the Ukrainian President’s Office, Andriy Yermak, expected to take place in Turkey, were canceled.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said there would be no Russian representatives at the meeting in Istanbul, which will coincide with Zelenskyy’s visit.

Reuters reported that Zelenskyy will hold talks in Turkey on Nov. 19 and the following day meet U.S. military officials in Kyiv as part of new efforts to revive peace negotiations with Russia.