Pope Francis appreciates Turkish President Erdogan's efforts to reconcile Ukraine and Russia, Türkiye's envoy to the Vatican Lutfullah Goktas says
) received me, was the Ukraine-Russia war. The Pope expressed his gratitude to Turkey, which has been in contact with both sides since the beginning of the conflict and has been working for peace.Goktas also noted that Türkiye "attaches great importance to Pope's calls for peace to the sides."
"I was extremely pleased to observe that the Pope, who has been closely following our President's reconciliation efforts, is also sharing the same sensitivities with our country," he added. Goktas also told Francis about Türkiye's fight against terror groups "for years for its national security," and said the country expects its allies "to display the same determination."The first and the latest high-level meeting of the Ukrainian and Russian foreign ministers, Dmytro Kuleba and Sergey Lavrov, took place on March 10 on the sidelines of Türkiye's Antalya Diplomacy Forum, while on March 29, negotiators from both countries met in Istanbul.
Turkish President Erdogan has had multiple phone calls with his Ukrainian and Russian counterparts to find a way to end the conflict since then.