Zelenskiy Travels to Turkey in Bid to Shore Up Defense Support

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(Bloomberg) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday will visit his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a crucial weapons supplier for Kyiv as the country seeks to bolster support for its defense against Russia’s invasion.

The Ukrainian leader is set to visit shipyards where corvettes for his country’s naval fleet are being constructed, Zelenskiy’s office said in a statement Friday. The two presidents will also discuss maritime safety in the Black Sea, Kyiv’s blueprint for peace and potential prisoner exchanges between Russia and Ukraine.

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The meeting comes as Ukraine has expressed concerns that, with European allies struggling to meet commitments to supply Kyiv with military equipment and US funding tied up in a domestic political dispute, Russian troops may break through their defenses by summer.

Turkey has provided key weapons, including combat drones, to Ukraine’s military, and Zelenskiy is likely to use the meeting to shore up the support. A Ukrainian official who handles strategic industries will join Zelenskiy in Turkey, a person familiar with the trip said.

Ukraine’s allies have lined up money to buy 800,000 rounds of heavy ammunition from non-European countries, according to Czech President Petr Pavel. Turkey is supplying 155mm shells to Ukraine through other allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, people familiar with the operation said. The country doesn’t directly sell Ukraine the ammunition, and is limited in what it can provide by its own production capacity and military needs, they said. In addition to ammunition, Turkey is supplying personnel carriers, drones, radios and boots. 

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Read more: Turkey Walks Tightrope Between US and Russia in Diplomacy Puzzle  

Erdogan has sought to play a mediating role between Kyiv and Moscow since the start of the February 2022 invasion on issues ranging from grain exports to talks to end the fighting. Though Turkey condemned the invasion and supplied armed drones and munitions to Ukraine, it has also refused to join sanctions against Russia, a critical energy supplier, and sought to expand economic ties with Moscow. 

Turkey was also the first NATO country since the invasion of Ukraine to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit, which may happen after March elections in both countries. 

Erdogan has used his ability to talk with both countries to play a central role in negotiations on a Black Sea corridor for Ukrainian grain exports, though Russia abandoned the deal in July 2023. No immediate progress on reviving that deal is expected, two people familiar said. Since then, Ukraine has set up its own export route after strikes on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet forced Moscow to relocate part of it away from Crimea, allowing for the safe passage for cargo ships.

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Read more: Why NATO’s Turkey Plans to Host Putin While War Rages: QuickTake 

Turkey and Ukraine have cooperated on defense since before the Russian invasion. Turkey has continued to supply Bayraktar drones to Kyiv, which played a crucial role in Ukraine’s defense in the early days of the war while the country waited for more western weapons. The cooperation does at times go in both directions, with the company producing some unmanned aircraft using engines from Ukraine’s Motor Sich PJSC.

Read more: Turkey Says Russian Anger Won’t Stop Arms Sales to Ukraine

Last month, Zelenskiy traveled to Riyadh to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to discuss his peace formula and a global summit that Kyiv is seeking. Zelenskiy is seeking support for the plan, which requires Russian forces to withdraw from all Ukrainian territory, something Moscow has refused to do. 

The Chinese government’s special representative for Eurasian affairs, Li Hui, visited Ukraine and met with Andriy Yermak, Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, in Kyiv Thursday. It was the envoy’s second visit to the Ukrainian capital within a year. 

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