At Antalya Diplomacy Forum Despite Efforts By Host Turkiye, Russia And Ukraine Fail An Opportunity For Engagement. Where Was Erdogan Moment From Budapest: Meet Me In The Lounge. It's Just Coffee.
At Antalya Diplomacy Forum Despite Efforts By Host Turkiye, Russia And Ukraine Fail To Use An Opportunity For Direct Engagement.
Russian Foreign Minister Held “Many Bilateral Meetings”
Ukraine Foreign Minister Held More Than Twenty Meetings With Representatives Of African Continent Countries.
Missing: Meeting Of Lavrov And Sybiha.
Moderator: Has there been any direct or indirect contact by the Ukrainian side here in Antalya?
Sergey Lavrov: Not to my knowledge. I came here to work.
Erdogan: Meet Me In The Lounge. It's Just Coffee… And Pastry
The important players were in attendance: Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (2004- ), and Andrii Sybiha, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (2024- ).
Their respective teams touted the number of meetings they attended. The problem was the one meeting most consequential someone forgot to schedule.
Since 2014 and with greater intensity since 2022 their respective governments and militaries remain consumed by commercial, economic, financial, military, and political issues with each other. Approximately US$1 trillion in economic activity that could have been productive- bettering lives, has forever been squandered.
There is no issue the government of the Russian Federation or the government of Ukraine have which is more important to resolve- although acknowledging defining resolve for Moscow and Kyiv remains more than one of grammar and language issues.
Rather than using the Antalya Diplomacy Forum to seek out one another in an effort to bring a conclusion to the Russian Federation-Ukraine war, the two ministers embraced, gave a bearhug to the irresponsible.
Unknown if engagement did take place in a non-public forum. But if it did, beneficial to governments and their taxpayers who have already been since 22 February 2022 separated from exceeding US$400 billion in announced, committed, delivered, and intended funding directed into Ukraine to gain at least a measurable moment of confidence.
The Antalya Diplomacy Forum is held annually in the coastal resort area of Antalya, Turkiye. This year the forum from 11 April 2025 to 13 April 2025 had a theme of “the restoration of diplomacy in a divided world.” Participants included approximately twenty heads of state and heads of government, approximately seventy ministers (including approximately fifty ministers of foreign affairs), approximately sixty senior-level representatives of international organisations, and approximately four thousand guests.
The Antalya Diplomacy Forum is not a beauty pageant where contestants need not engage and only show-up, prance about a stage, and not say anything of consequence. With origins in ancient Rome, Italy, a forum is “a place, meeting, or medium where ideas and views on a particular issue can be exchanged.”
If heads of state, heads of government, and ministers are not prepared to engage with those with whom they agree and with whom they have issues- and take risks, if necessary, why participate? Save the taxpayers money on jet fuel, meals, and hotel accommodations and stay home.
Even a brief “meeting on the sidelines” or “pull aside” using diplomatic terms where they could engage directly and then exchange email addresses, Telegram, Signal, and WhatsApp numbers.
How incredibly disappointing and frustrating, yet not necessarily unexpected, that the government of the Russian Federation and the government of Ukraine would let lapse an ideal environment for direct dialogue afforded by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of the Republic of Turkiye (2014- ), and officials of the government of the Republic of Turkiye, including Hakan Fidan, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Erdogan: Meet Me In The Lounge. It's Just Coffee… And Pastry
Interactions are not prescriptive- they do not always remedy the problem. However, interactions are likely not to make a problem more insurmountable. Heads of state and heads of government often repeat the refrain about the importance of speaking directly to those not liked, to those with whom there is an issue- or more than one issue.
President Erdogan did just that on 7 November 2024 at the European Political Community Summit at the Puskas Arena, in Budapest, Hungary. What began as a bilateral transitioned into a trilateral and then a quadrilateral.
“November 7, 2024. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo/File: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides met on the sidelines of the European Political Community Summit, Cypriot officials said, in a rare and unusual encounter between traditional foes. Türkiye’s foreign minister Hakan Fidan was also present, while they were later joined by Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Edi Rama, prime ministers of Greece and Albania respectively, Cypriot deputy government spokesperson Yiannis Antoniou said in a post on X.”
From Media Reporting: “Russia and Ukraine traded accusations of violating a ceasefire on strikes on energy infrastructure. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha accused each other of attacking energy sites, speaking at different panels at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Türkiye. Lavrov said that Russia hasn’t attacked any Ukrainian energy facilities since 18 March, when Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to halt attacks for 30 days in a phone call with US President Donald Trump. Lavrov accused Ukraine of breaking the terms of the US-brokered deal and said he provided the list of energy sites targeted by Ukraine to the various parties involved in diplomacy efforts.”
TRT Global: Russia: Ukraine issue to be discussed on sidelines of Türkiye's Antalya Diplomacy Forum. While Ukraine has not requested a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov in Antalya, the top diplomat is expected to address the issue "at every meeting". Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has stated that the situation in Ukraine is anticipated to be addressed “at every meeting” held by top Russian diplomat Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of Türkiye’s Antalya Diplomacy Forum. When asked about a potential meeting between Russian and Ukrainian diplomats during a press briefing in Moscow on Wednesday, Zakharova noted that Kyiv has not sought such contact. While the schedule for bilateral meetings involving Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum — set to occur from April 11 to 13 — is still being finalised, Zakharova expressed confidence that discussions concerning the Ukraine war would take place. “The situation around Ukraine will undoubtedly be discussed, of that I am sure, at literally every meeting,” Zakharova said, clarifying that she had no knowledge of any sessions focused solely on the Ukrainian issue. She added that arrangements are underway for a meeting between Lavrov and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, as well as several other foreign ministers attending the forum.
From Government of the Russian Federation: Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s answers to the media questions during his remarks at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum on April 12, 2025
Moderator: Has there been any direct or indirect contact by the Ukrainian side here in Antalya? Sergey Lavrov: Not to my knowledge. I came here to work.