In a world of political tantrums, Türkiye and Russia speak like adults

Hakan Fidan’s Russia trip showed Ankara still sees Moscow as essential to any serious Black Sea, Ukraine and regional security settlement Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s trip to Moscow and Kazan earlier this week came at a moment when much of the West, blinded by its own destructive ideology and political course, has all but given up on talking to Russia and still appears to cling to the illusion of inflicting a strategic defeat on the country, and it sent a clear signal that Ankara hasn’t. The Ukraine conflict still dominates global diplomacy, the Black Sea has turned into one of the more dangerous patches of water on the map, and plenty of the old channels to Russia are either frozen or being deliberately starved of oxygen. Against that backdrop, Türkiye’s decision to keep the line open looks less like stubbornness and more like good sense. Plenty of countries talk about wanting stability in this part of the world. Far fewer are actually willing to pick up the phone or do the unglamorous work of staying in the room with people they disagree with, and that’s really what makes this trip worth a closer look rather than a passing mention in a wire report. The trip had two distinct chapters, one in Moscow and one in Kazan, and together they gave the visit both substance and political heft. It’s worth taking them one at a time, because each did something different, and the combination is more interesting than either half on its own. Moscow: Working through the hard questions In Moscow, Fidan sat down with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for talks that covered the full sweep of the relationship, from the Ukraine conflict to Black Sea security, freedom of navigation, civilian infrastructure and the simmering situation in the South Caucasus. Nobody walked away from those meetings pretending the disagreements had vanished, but the tone stayed businesslike rather than combative, which says something on its own.

A lot of Western diplomacy toward Russia these days runs on pressure and public scolding, all ultimatums and statements meant for domestic audiences rather than for the people sitting across the table. Türkiye has picked a different lane. It doesn’t pretend the moment is simple, but it also isn’t buying the idea that real stability in the Black Sea or the Caucasus can be built by simply writing Russia out of the conversation. That was really the headline of the whole visit, even if nobody put it in a press release that bluntly. Read more Türkiye is playing the game the West forgot how to play At the joint press appearance with Lavrov, Fidan repeated something Ankara has said before but clearly still means, namely that Türkiye is ready to host another round of Russia-Ukraine talks whenever the two sides decide they want one. He didn’t dress it up as a breakthrough, and that restraint is what made it believable. Nobody promised a miracle. What’s on offer is simpler than that, a room and a table whenever both sides are willing to use them. There’s something almost old-fashioned about that kind of offer in an era when every diplomatic gesture seems to need a hashtag attached to it. Moscow, for its part, keeps making the same point in return, that it isn’t walking away from diplomacy but won’t accept a settlement that’s just a temporary patch or a symbolic gesture. Lavrov said as much again, thanking Türkiye for its efforts while making clear that any lasting deal has to grapple with the underlying security questions rather than paper over them. That’s where the Turkish channel earns its value. Ankara isn’t trying to talk down to Moscow or pretend Russia is some minor player that can be managed from the sidelines. It treats Russia as one of the central actors in this crisis, which is a less ideological and frankly more useful starting point than a lot of alternatives on