Turkish FM heads to Moscow for talks on Ukraine, Black Sea security

Almost one year later, Türkiye’s top diplomat Hakan Fidan returns to Moscow for a two-day official visit. Fidan was invited by his counterpart, Sergey Lavrov. The visit on June 16-17 is expected to cover a meeting between Fidan and Lavrov, a reception by Russian President Vladimir Putin and a meeting with Turkish businesspeople in Russia. Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Black Sea security are among the top topics Turkish and Russian officials will have discussions.

Fidan last visited Russia for bilateral talks on May 26-27, 2025. He also held talks with Lavrov last April on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in the eponymous Turkish city.

Foreign ministry sources said Fidan will highlight the importance of Turkish-Russian relations for regional stability and prosperity and will have comprehensive discussions on topics related to bilateral ties, particularly commerce, energy, security and consular affairs.

Sources said Fidan will also highlight Türkiye’s commitment to diplomatic efforts for a lasting peace between Ukraine and Russia , as well as readiness to host another round of talks like Türkiye did in 2022 and last year.

A Ukrainian official said that Kyiv would welcome an offer from Türkiye ​to host bilateral talks, which President Volodymyr Zelenskiy ​has proposed several times.

Kyiv's ambassador to Ankara told Reuters last month that ⁠it wanted ‌deeper ‌ties with Türkiye, including joint ⁠production in the defense industry.

The minister will point out that rising tensions in the Black Sea threatened regional and global peace and recent incidents paved the way for multi-dimensional risks. Türkiye is among the countries littoral to Black Sea, which had its fair share of stray drones and naval mines from the Russia-Ukraine conflict washing on its shores or crashing into its territories, especially last year. On Sunday, an unmanned aerial vehicle was found off the coast of Türkiye’s Black Sea province of Bartın. He will note that Türkiye’s cease-fire proposal for the protection of energy infrastructure and ports and a mechanism for Black Sea maritime security still stands. In recent months, Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of ⁠drone attacks on tankers near Türkiye's northern coast.

The foreign ministry sources said Fidan would also highlight Türkiye’s support for lasting peace between the United States and Iran and the resumption of the prewar status quo at the Strait of Hormuz, maintaining maritime security through the strait.

On Syria, Fidan will underline the importance of international support to the Syrian administration for stability, security and development of Türkiye’s southern neighbor. Russia's foreign ministry said last Wednesday that cooperation with Syria was ​developing very actively and that Moscow was discussing with Damascus a "possible reformatting" of ⁠its military facilities ⁠in Syria. The December 2024 ousting of Bashar al-Assad, a close Russian ally, raised ​questions about the future of Russia's Hmeimim ​airbase ⁠in Latakia and its naval facility at Tartous. But Moscow has since built relations with Syria’s new president Ahmed al-Sharaa. "Russian-Syrian cooperation is developing very actively," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said when asked about reported plans for the creation of a logistics hub in Tartous to distribute goods imported from Russia across Syria. "Within the framework of ⁠contacts ⁠with Syrian partners, the issue of Russia's military presence in Syria is also being discussed, including in the context of a possible reformatting of the functionality of Russian military facilities."

Sources said Fidan would also raise the issue of Israel, how its aggressive and expansionist policies threatened security and stability in the entire region and will highlight the need to prevent Israel’s violations of the cease-fire in Gaza, steps to expand illegal settlements in the West Bank and occupation of Lebanon.

Additionally, the minister will reiterate Türkiye’s support for the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia and emphasize that peace in the South Caucasus would also benefit Türkiye and Russia. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol ⁠Pashinyan , whose last days of his previous term were marked with escalating tensions with Russia, won elections this month. Yerevan works with Azerbaijan on ⁠a peace ​deal that may speed up Türkiye’s own normalization with Armenia.