Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, speaking at the Ukraine “peace summit” in Switzerland over the weekend, added a slight dose of reality to the discussion. According to RT, Fidan said the war in Ukraine “is increasingly becoming a war more than between Russia and Ukraine,” and that it “could go beyond Ukraine geographically.… We are witnessing further polarization happening. This conflict between Ukraine and Russia is more than a war, it could turn into something more. We face a risk involving weapons of mass destruction.”
The talks at the summit could have been “more result-oriented,” Fidan argued, if Russia were a participant. Nonetheless, he said the event and other efforts toward a peace agreement were “important steps and a glimpse of hope to start with,” adding that “this conference, therefore, may be the last effort before the bridge.”
Fidan also observed that both Ukraine and Russia have now put forward peace proposals, and “regardless of the content and the conditions,” they are things that should be worked with. He remarked that Türkiye would be willing to host negotiations between Russia and Ukraine again, as it did in 2022.
