ISTANBUL

Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said Tuesday that Türkiye will continue to back diplomatic initiatives aimed at achieving a "just and lasting peace" in Ukraine.

"In the name of Türkiye, we will continue to fully support diplomatic efforts for a just and lasting peace," Yilmaz stated on the Turkish social media platform NSosyal.

Yilmaz noted that he took part in Tuesday’s virtual meeting of the "coalition of the willing" group on behalf of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, following earlier sessions held on Aug. 13 and 17.

"In the virtual meeting, participants exchanged updates and assessments regarding the talks held in Alaska between the presidents of the US and Russia, as well as discussions in Washington between President Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, leaders of several European countries, and representatives of the EU and NATO," Yilmaz explained.

He underlined that direct talks between the parties in the coming period could mark "a new phase" for diplomacy.

The initiative is led by the UK and France, and envisages sending peacekeeping troops from a number of European and NATO countries to post-war Ukraine.

Trump on Monday said the leaders discussed security guarantees for Ukraine, and his administration began preparations for a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and later a trilateral summit involving him.

The Washington meeting came after a Trump-Putin summit in the US state of Alaska aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.