Leading the news: Turkey’s role as a broker in the Russia-Ukraine war took center stage this week

On Tuesday, Istanbul’s Dolmabahce Palace hosted another round of direct peace talks between the two sides. As expected, the face-to-face negotiations concluded without any major diplomatic breakthrough. But Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu struck an upbeat tone, telling reporters that “meaningful progress” was made.

Middle ground: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sought to leverage Turkey’s relations with Russia and Ukraine, whose leaders he recently referred to as his “dear friends.”

Turkey has supplied Bayraktar TB2 drones to Ukraine, closed the Turkish straits to Russian warships and condemned Russia at the United Nations. At the same time, Ankara refused to join in sanctions against Moscow and has kept its airspace open to Russian planes.

“A Black Sea power and NATO member with significant trade and security ties with Russia and Ukraine alike, Turkey sees itself uniquely positioned to be a facilitator, if not an actual mediator, in the war,” writes Amberin Zaman.