Turkish foreign minister, US secretary of state discuss Iran talks, Gaza, Ukraine war

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday on the sidelines of a G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in the US, according to Turkish Foreign Ministry sources. In the southern US city of Atlanta, the two discussed bilateral relations as well as ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran, the situation in the Gaza Strip, the Russia-Ukraine war, and other regional developments, the sources said.

The meeting comes after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his US counterpart Donald Trump recently discussed bilateral ties, as well as regional and global developments, in a phone call, with Erdogan stressing that Türkiye stands ready to contribute to the efforts to revive the diplomatic process between Ukraine and Russia, and to end the war through that process. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is due in Türkiye on Saturday for a working visit at the invitation of Erdogan.

Rubio said he had a "great meeting" with Fidan. "We discussed ways to further deepen our bilateral cooperation to advance peace and stability worldwide," Rubio wrote on US social media company X.