Ukraine, UN, Turkey Held Trilateral Talks, Urging Russia To Withdraw

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Lviv on August 18th. He demanded the Russian army to stop artillery strikes on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and withdraw from the plant.

 Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attend a news conference in Lviv, Ukraine August 18, 2022. (Turkish Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS)

 At a joint press conference after meeting, Zelenskyy introduced the situation of Russian troops controlled Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant in southern Ukraine, the ongoing shelling near the largest nuclear plant in Europe, and the agreement for inspecting the Plant by U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission.

 Zelenskyy said “Russia has to immediately and unconditionally withdraw all forces from the territory of the Zaporizhzhia power station and stop all provocations and all shelling. It is unacceptable that Russia puts all of us at the brink of nuclear catastrophe,”

 “The area needs to be demilitarized,” Guterres calling on Russia to halt military operations and withdraw.

 During the talks, the three leaders also discussed how Turkey and the U.N. could mediate between Ukraine and Russia and steer the implementation of agreements on exporting agricultural products.

 Erdogan said the discussions were based on the premise of achieving peace: “I maintain my belief that the war will eventually end at the negotiating table.” Zelenskyy said that for peace talks to begin, Russia must first leave the occupied territories, or we won’t see.