site.btaTurkish Grand National Assembly President Meets with Russian Federation Council Speaker Matvienko in Ankara

The Turkish Grand National Assembly President Numan Kurtulmus met with Valentina Matvienko, Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, in Ankara on Thursday, the Anadolu Agency reported. The sides gave a joint news conference afterwards.

Matvienko is on a two-day visit to Turkiye since Wednesday.

Kurtulmus commented on Thursday's meeting in Istanbul between the delegations of the USA and Russia aimed at finding a way to end the war between Ukraine and Russia. He said, as quoted by CNN Turk, that Turkiye has made efforts for dialogue and could be a mediator between Russia and Ukraine. In his words, Turkiye is ready to provide all kinds of support, all kinds of mediation in the name of peace. Turkiye is ready to fulfill its responsibilities, he added.

Matvienko said that Russia had agreed to a series of initiatives of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for promoting peaceful dialogue with Ukraine, but the Ukrainian President gave up on those initiatives. She also said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was content with Kurtulmus' visit to Moscow in September 2024. Back then, Matvienko and the Turkish Grand National Assembly President reached an agreement on enhanced continuation of the interparliamentary dialogue, she recalled.