Turkey is a traditional ally of Ukraine\u00a0and has supplied the country with Bayraktar drones — made by a firm whose technology director is Erdogan’s own son-in-law — which Kyiv has deployed in the conflict.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But it is seeking to maintain good relations with Russia, on which Turkey depends heavily for gas imports and tourism revenues.<\/p>\n

Erdogan called the Russian invasion “unacceptable” but at the same time, Ankara has not joined Western sanctions against Moscow and refused to close its airspace to Russian planes.<\/p>\n

“This active neutrality succeeded in bringing Turkey to the centre of the diplomatic game,” said Berk Esen of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

– Low ‘breakthrough’ chance –<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

The war has sparked Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War II, with more than two million people crossing Ukraine’s borders, according to the United Nations.<\/p>\n

The West’s sanctions on Russia have failed to dissuade Putin from pushing on with his assault.<\/p>\n

“I think every effort helps, but I don’t think there is much hope for a breakthrough just yet,” the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Middle East Program director Aaron Stein told AFP.<\/p>\n

The talks are a boost for Erdogan who has in recent years found himself increasingly cold-shouldered by the West over unilateral Turkish operations in Syria and concerns over human rights.<\/p>\n

Turkey is also enduring a severe economic crisis that has seen a crash in the value of the lira. A breakdown in relations with Russia could spell disaster for the economy.<\/p>\n

Erdogan is also scheduled to talk on the phone with US President Joe Biden Thursday at 1530 GMT, according to the Turkish presidency.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Washington Institute fellow Soner Cagaptay said he would “be highly surprised” if the Antalya talks led to a major breakthrough, with other leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also seeking to mediate.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But he praised as a “huge success for Turkish diplomacy” the fact that the two foreign ministers “are agreeing to meet in person in a neutral territory”.<\/p>\n

“That’s quite significant even if there’s no breakthrough,” he told AFP.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers will Thursday hold face-to-face talks in southern Turkey in the first high-level contact between Kyiv and Moscow since Russia invaded its neighbour two weeks ago.   President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has pushed for Turkey to play a mediation role, has expressed hope the talks can avert tragedy and even help agree a ceasefire. But analysts fear there are only the lowest chances of a breakthrough at the meeting in Antalya between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba. Senior Ukrainian officials, including the defence minister, have held a sequence […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39865,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[545,562],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","category-yeswecantv-news"],"yoast_head":"\n