Ankara is willing to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine as part of security guarantees, but only if it is involved in all relevant discussions and preparations, Bloomberg reports, citing sources familiar with the issue.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has discussed this possibility in separate talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The meeting between Erdogan and Zelensky took place on February 18, while the one with Lavrov was held on February 24 in Ankara.
According to reports, Ankara will not participate in any peacekeeping mission unless it is included in all the necessary consultations and preparations.
However, the authenticity of the information published by Bloomberg could not be verified by Kyiv Post.
The United Kingdom and France have expressed readiness to send around 30,000 peacekeeping troops to Ukraine as part of a possible peace solution.
Turkey, which has the second-largest military in NATO after the US, has previously played a key role in mediation efforts between the conflicting parties.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump declared on Wednesday that he is open to sending European peacekeepers to Ukraine, an idea that has been repeatedly opposed by Moscow.
As a NATO member, Turkey previously organized direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in March 2022, trying to play a mediating role in the conflict.
At the same time, a new round of talks between the US and Russia is scheduled for Thursday in Istanbul to discuss the resumption of diplomatic operations. Ukraine, according to sources, is not expected to be part of this meeting.
So far, neither side has confirmed the composition of the participating delegations, but the Russian news agency TASS has reported that representatives from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be present.
