Zelenskyy visits Türkiye for talks and working dinner with Erdoğan

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a working visit to Türkiye on Saturday, 31 October 2026, at the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Turkish officials announced the trip a day earlier. Zelenskyy arrived in Istanbul, and the two leaders held talks followed by a working dinner.

The Turkish Presidency said the agenda covered bilateral cooperation, the war between Russia and Ukraine, and security in the Black Sea. Ankara had recently signalled that it was ready to help restart diplomatic contacts between Kyiv and Moscow. Erdoğan had spoken with US President Donald Trump shortly before the visit, and Türkiye had earlier said it was prepared to help arrange a meeting of leaders aimed at ending the war.

After the talks, Zelenskyy called for the conflict to move into a diplomatic phase. The visit mattered because Türkiye is a NATO member that keeps working ties with both Ukraine and Russia. It has hosted earlier rounds of talks, including in Istanbul in 2022 and 2025. The meeting placed Ankara again at the centre of efforts to find a negotiated route out of the war.