Turkey says any Ukraine peace deal hard to digest – but better than more death

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan tells Reuters that any potential peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia would be “difficult to digest” but would still be better than the alternative of more death and destruction.

Turkey, a NATO member, has maintained cordial ties with both Kyiv and Moscow since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It has voiced support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and provided it with military help, while opposing sanctions on Russia.

In an interview on the sidelines of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, Fidan says Turkey supports a US initiative to seek an end to the war in Ukraine, but that the sides remained a “little bit far away” from reaching a deal.

“It will be extremely difficult to digest any proposal,” Fidan says. “But when we look at the other option, which is more death and destruction, I think whatever the conditions that we have… will be more reasonable” than the alternative.

US President Donald Trump “is finally following an agenda to stop the war,” he adds.

Asked about potential security guarantees for Ukraine, Fidan says Europe could not provide them on its own without U.S. support, but added that a deterrence factor was needed for the fighting not to restart.

“There is a huge effort to get the American side again to engage in security support to Ukraine,” he says, referring to recent talks among European states.

He adds that “we should expect” that all sides including Russia would honor any ultimate agreement.

The prospect of ending the war has heightened Turkey’s role in regional security, making it a key potential partner in the restructuring of Europe’s security architecture, as European powers scramble to bolster their own defenses and seek guarantees for Ukraine under any forthcoming peace deal.

Kyiv has said Turkey, with the second-largest army in NATO, would be an important guarantor for security. Ankara has said it would consider joining a peace initiative on the ground, though it has said details of such a mission remain unclear.

Fidan repeats Turkey’s offer to host Russia and Ukraine for possible peace talks, after having hosted initial talks in 2022.