Russia rejected a Turkish proposal this month for a ceasefire and renewed talks with Ukraine, Middle East Eye reported, citing Russian and Ukrainian sources familiar with the matter.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan raised the proposal during a visit to Moscow on June 16-17 where he met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, President Vladimir Putin and other senior Russian officials.
“Fidan told his counterparts that there should be at least some broad idea of how to return to negotiations, and a window for a ceasefire,” a Russian source told MEE.
The source said Moscow “politely refused to discuss the idea.”
Turkey has sought to maintain ties with both Moscow and Kyiv since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and has repeatedly offered to host talks between the two sides.
Ahead of Fidan’s Moscow visit, a Turkish diplomatic source told Reuters that Ankara would renew its offer to host negotiations and would also discuss Black Sea shipping safety and regional developments.
Fidan had been expected to warn against further escalation in the Black Sea and to repeat Turkey’s proposal for a limited ceasefire covering ports and energy infrastructure, the source said at the time.
According to MEE, Ankara had hoped that if Fidan’s latest effort succeeded, it could bring Russian and Ukrainian officials to Turkey during the NATO summit Ankara will host on July 7-8. For now, that appears unlikely.
Moscow has insisted that any lasting agreement must include Kyiv’s recognition of Russia’s annexation of the provincial borders of Donbas in eastern Ukraine, a demand Ukraine rejects.
Russia currently controls more than 80 percent of the Donetsk region, the economic center of Donbas, as it continues its military campaign around key cities including Kostyantynivka and Lyman, MEE reported.
Ukrainian officials have disputed reports of expanding Russian control along the front, but The New York Times reported that Russian troops had fought their way into Kostyantynivka, a city in the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine has resisted pressure from the Trump administration to give up Donbas, insisting it will continue fighting for the region.
Kyiv has previously welcomed Turkey’s offers to host talks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has proposed several times that Turkey host a leaders-level meeting, and a Ukrainian official told Reuters earlier this month that Kyiv would welcome Turkish mediation.