Polish PM says he has arrived in Kyiv, Turkish FM to visit Moscow, Kyiv

Poland's PM in Kyiv alongside his counterparts from the Czech Republic and Slovenia. * Turkeys FM to visit Moscow on Tuesday, Kyiv on Thursday.

 POLISH PRESIDENT Andrzej Duda.  (photo credit: REUTERS)
POLISH PRESIDENT Andrzej Duda.
(photo credit: REUTERS)

Poland's Deputy Prime Minister called for a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine as the Polish Prime Minister visits Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

"I think that it is necessary to have a peace mission - NATO, possibly some wider international structure - but a mission that will be able to defend itself, which will operate on Ukrainian territory," Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski said in a conference in Kyiv alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Earlier on Tuesday, Poland's Prime Minister arrived in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv alongside his counterparts from the Czech Republic and Slovenia.

"We must stop the tragedy that is happening in the East as soon as possible," Mateusz Morawiecki wrote on Facebook. "This is why, together with (Polish) Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski and Prime Ministers Petr Fiala and Janez Jansa, we are in Kyiv."

On the Russian side, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu will visit Moscow on Wednesday for talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on a wide range of issues on the bilateral and international agenda, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"During the meeting, we will discuss the situation in Ukraine, the Transcaucasus, the Middle East and North Africa, Central Asia, and the Black Sea region," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"I am sending my foreign minister to Russia tonight. He will hold talks in Moscow tomorrow, and travel to Kyiv on Thursday," Erdogan said after a cabinet meeting.

Erdogan also said he would meet Polish President Andrzej Duda for talks in Ankara on Wednesday, adding that Turkey had become "a symbol of hope" after it hosted the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers last week for the first high-level talks between the warring sides.

Last week's talks in the resort of Antalya, which Cavusoglu also attended, did not yield any concrete results.

Ukraine said on Sunday it was working with Turkey and Israel as mediators to set a place and framework for negotiations with Russia.

While forging close ties with Russia on energy, defense and trade and relying heavily on Russian tourists, Turkey has also sold drones to Ukraine, angering Moscow. It also opposes Russian policies in Syria and Libya, as well as its annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Erdogan has repeatedly said Turkey will not abandon its ties with Russia or Ukraine, saying Ankara's ability to speak to both sides was an asset.