Senior U.S. And Turkey Officials Discuss Karabakh At An Unannounced Meeting

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s chief adviser Ibrahim Kalin in Istanbul on Sunday and discussed “their support for peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan" among other key issues, the White House said in a readout of the meeting.

The move came just days after Sullivan hosted Armenian and Azerbaijani senior officials in Washington D.C.

The meeting in Istanbul, which was previously unannounced, was also focused on their continued support for Ukraine in the face of Russia’s aggression, including their condemnation of Russia’s attempted, illegal annexation of Ukrainian territory.

"Mr. Sullivan expressed his appreciation for Turkiye’s efforts to improve global food security by helping facilitate the export of Ukrainian grain and its diplomatic work to secure the release of Ukrainian prisoners of war, as well as two American citizens, held by Russia," White House National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.

"They also discussed regional security issues, including their support for peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the importance of dialogue and diplomacy to resolve any disagreements in the Eastern Mediterranean, and progress on NATO accession for Finland and Sweden," she added.

Sullivan also met with Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine's presidential office, in Istanbul on Sunday and pledged Washington's steadfast support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, the White House said.

The two discussed the situation at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and Ukraine's continued work with the United Nations to export food to the world," Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the White House's National Security Council, reads in a statement.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.