Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan underscored the role of existing agreements for a “peaceful and diplomatic solution” in the Ukraine standoff during his visit to Kyiv, in a move that appears to be upholding demands by Moscow. 

As part of dizzying diplomatic traffic aiming to ease the tensions between Kyiv and Moscow, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky hosted a second foreign dignitary for two days in a row. After UK Premier Boris Johnson’s visit yesterday, the country’s beleaguered leader welcomed Erdogan today. 

Speaking in a joint presser with his Ukrainian counterpart following their one-on-one meeting, the Turkish president struck a different tone from many of his Western counterparts, stressing the role of the Minsk Accords of 2015 — a peace agreement brokered by France and Germany that Kyiv has long argued favors Russian interests in eastern Ukraine.

“We sincerely believe that the crisis will be solved peacefully and diplomatically within the framework of the Minsk agreements on the basis of Ukraine's territorial integrity and international law,” Erdogan said during the televised presser.