Ankara: Time to Start Dialogue Between Moscow, Kyiv on Ceasefire

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met on Sunday with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov (Reuters)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met on Sunday with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov (Reuters)
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Ankara: Time to Start Dialogue Between Moscow, Kyiv on Ceasefire

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met on Sunday with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov (Reuters)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met on Sunday with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov (Reuters)

Türkiye says it is now time to start a dialogue between Moscow and Kyiv for a ceasefire, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Sunday in the southern city of Antalya.

Fidan met his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, on Friday on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum. He told reporters he had discussed a number of issues with Lavrov, including Ukraine.

“On the issue of Ukraine, our view is that both sides have reached the limits of what they can get by war. We think that it is time to start a dialogue for a ceasefire,”Fidan said.

The foreign minister added that opening up ceasefire talks “doesn't mean recognizing the occupation (by Russia), but issues of sovereignty and ceasefire should be discussed separately.”

NATO member Türkiye, which shares a maritime border with both Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea, has sought to maintain good ties with both nations since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine two years ago.

Ankara has provided military support for Ukraine and voiced support for its territorial integrity, but also opposes sanctions on Russia.

Fidan’s meeting with Lavrov came shortly before a trip to Washington to meet his American counterpart Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The meeting will be held within the framework of the Türkiye-US Strategic Dialogue Mechanism, held on March 7 and 8. It comes as Moscow signaled its readiness to hold talks with Washington.

In 2022, Türkiye hosted unofficial peace talks between Russia and Ukraine at the second diplomatic forum in the Turkish city of Antalya. The talks has not yielded any positive results.

Last month, Türkiye’s President Tayyip Erdogan expressed his ongoing willingness to mediate between Russia and Ukraine for a “fair” peace between the two countries.

“We have brought the parties together in Türkiye on multiple occasions. We can do this again and open the door to peace through a solution-focused process management, free from external influences,” Erdogan said.

“In our meetings with both President (Vladimir) Putin and President (Volodymyr) Zelenskiy, we continue our efforts in this pursuit,” he added.



Typhoon Gaemi Weakens to Tropical Storm as It Moves Inland Carrying Rain toward Central China

 In this photo released by the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense, Taiwanese soldiers clear debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung county in southwestern Taiwan, Friday, July 26, 2024. (Taiwan Ministry of National Defense via AP)
In this photo released by the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense, Taiwanese soldiers clear debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung county in southwestern Taiwan, Friday, July 26, 2024. (Taiwan Ministry of National Defense via AP)
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Typhoon Gaemi Weakens to Tropical Storm as It Moves Inland Carrying Rain toward Central China

 In this photo released by the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense, Taiwanese soldiers clear debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung county in southwestern Taiwan, Friday, July 26, 2024. (Taiwan Ministry of National Defense via AP)
In this photo released by the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense, Taiwanese soldiers clear debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung county in southwestern Taiwan, Friday, July 26, 2024. (Taiwan Ministry of National Defense via AP)

Tropical storm Gaemi brought rain to central China on Saturday as it moved inland after making landfall at typhoon strength on the country's east coast Thursday night.

The storm felled trees, flooded streets and damaged crops in China but there were no reports of casualties or major damage. Eight people died in Taiwan, which Gaemi crossed at typhoon strength before heading over open waters to China.

The worst loss of life, however, was in a country that Gaemi earlier passed by but didn't strike directly: the Philippines. A steadily climbing death toll has reached 34, authorities there said Friday. The typhoon exacerbated seasonal monsoon rains in the Southeast Asian country, causing landslides and severe flooding that stranded people on rooftops as waters rose around them.

China Gaemi weakened to a tropical storm since coming ashore Thursday evening in coastal Fujian province, but it is still expected to bring heavy rains in the coming days as it moves northwest to Jiangxi, Hubei and Henan provinces.

About 85 hectares (210 acres) of crops were damaged in Fujian province and economic losses were estimated at 11.5 million yuan ($1.6 million), according to Chinese media reports. More than 290,000 people were relocated because of the storm.

Elsewhere in China, several days of heavy rains this week in Gansu province left one dead and three missing in the country's northwest, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Taiwan Residents and business owners swept out mud and mopped up water Friday after serious flooding that sent cars and scooters floating down streets in parts of southern and central Taiwan. Some towns remained inundated with waist-deep water.

Eight people died, several of them struck by falling trees and one by a landslide hitting their house. More than 850 people were injured and one person was missing, the emergency operations center said.

Visiting hard-hit Kaohsiung in the south Friday, President Lai Ching-te commended the city's efforts to improve flood control since a 2009 typhoon that brought a similar amount of rain and killed 681 people, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported.

Lai announced that cash payments of $20,000 New Taiwan Dollars ($610) would be given to households in severely flooded areas.

A cargo ship sank off the coast near Kaohsiung Harbor during the typhoon, and the captain's body was later pulled from the water, the Central News Agency said. A handful of other ships were beached by the storm.

Philippines At least 34 people died in the Philippines, mostly because of flooding and landslides triggered by days of monsoon rains that intensified when the typhoon — called Carina in the Philippines — passed by the archipelago’s east coast.

The victims included 11 people in the Manila metro area, where widespread flooding trapped people on the roofs and upper floors of their houses, police said. Some drowned or were electrocuted in their flooded communities.

Earlier in the week, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered authorities to speed up efforts in delivering food and other aid to isolated rural villages, saying people may not have eaten for days.

The bodies of a pregnant woman and three children were dug out Wednesday after a landslide buried a shanty in the rural mountainside town of Agoncillo in Batangas province.