Ukraine’s Zelenskyy hosts talks with UN chief and Turkey leader

Mr Erdogan has positioned himself as a go-between in efforts to stop the fighting

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, shakes hands with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their meeting in Lviv (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Turkey’s president and the UN chief met with Ukrainian president Volodymr Zelenskyy on Thursday in a high-stakes bid to ratchet down a war raging for nearly six months, boost desperately needed grain exports and secure the safety of Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant.

The gathering, held far from the front lines in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, near the Polish border, marked the first visit to Ukraine by Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan since the outbreak of the war, and the second by UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres.