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

By Samia Nakhoul

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Reuters on Friday 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 said Turkey supported a U.S. 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 said. "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.

U.S. President Donald Trump "is finally following an agenda to stop the war", he added.

Asked about potential security guarantees for Ukraine, Fidan said 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 said, referring to recent talks among European states.

He added that "we should expect" that all sides including Russia would honour 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 defences 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 repeated Turkey's offer to host Russia and Ukraine for possible peace talks, after having hosted initial talks in 2022.

U.S. SANCTIONS

Asked about Trump's dramatic shift in U.S. transatlantic security policies, including closer ties with Russia, Fidan said this could be an opportunity for Europe to be more independent after its "huge dependency" on the United States since the Cold War.

"If we see that the main actors are not hostile anymore (and are) having some kind of cooperation, I think the mentality that we have inherited from the Cold War, which was based on the hostility between mainly the United States and Russia will create a huge change," he said.

Fidan, who met U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the NATO summit after having visited him in Washington last month, also said he was hopeful that Trump would find a solution to end years-long U.S. sanctions on Turkey's defence industry.

The so-called CAATSA sanctions were applied after Turkey acquired Russian S-400 defence systems in 2019, also resulting in the country's removal from an F-35 fighter jet development and procurement system.

The sanctions "should be corrected," Fidan said. "I think Mr. Trump, with his problem-solving techniques and his team, will be able to come up with some sort of solution."