Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu met with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on March 16, 2022, in Moscow to discuss finding a peaceful solution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Prior to their discussions, the two foreign ministers held a press conference, at which Lavrov admitted that the countries had some differences of opinion, yet added that Russia valued the balanced approach Turkey has taken to the crisis. For his part, Çavuşoğlu stated that Turkey wanted to see a peaceful conclusion to the crisis, a critical element for which was continued diplomacy, and to that end, he was once again visiting Moscow.

According to Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak’s account of the press conference, Çavuşoğlu remarked that Turkey had “maintained our honest mediation and facilitation role” with Russia and Ukraine, with both of which Turkey had good relations. In the context of stating that dialogue and diplomacy were even more important at a time when there were tests and difficulties, he thanked Lavrov for meeting with him and the Ukrainian foreign minister in Antalya on 10 March as well as supporting the Antalya Diplomacy Forum (ADF), held in Antalya from 11-13 March.

Çavuşoğlu noted the broad, multidimensional nature of Turkey’s bilateral relations with Russia; and, that while he was in Moscow, he and Lavrov would have the opportunity to discuss preparations for the two countries’ upcoming 9^th High-Level Cooperation Council Meeting to be held in Turkey. Çavuşoğlu volunteered that in addition to the cooperation the two countries enjoyed based on their bilateral relations, Turkey was also working with Russia on the Syrian and Libyan issues. Lavrov reiterated Çavuşoğlu’s comments as well as including that the two countries were working together on the resolution process in Afghanistan.

Further, according to the Yeni Safak article, both Çavuşoğlu and Lavrov broached Turkey’s request that four Russian warships not proceed from the Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea. Turkey had decided to implement the Montreux Convention to restrict the movement of warships through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles Straits in a time of war, which Turkey has declared the Russia-Ukraine conflict to be. While Çavuşoğlu expressed his satisfaction that Moscow had responded favorably to Turkey’s request, Lavrov acknowledged the “we value Ankara’s responsible approach to implementing the Montreux Convention.” [Analyst Note: Moscow may have been willing to abide by Ankara’s request with the expectation that the same restrictions would apply to the movement of NATO’s battleships from the Mediterranean Sea into the Black Sea]

A full translation of the text can be found here.