(10 Mar 2022) As Russia's offensive in Ukraine shows no sign of abating, the foreign ministers of the two warring sides are set to meet Thursday in southern Turkey. Ankara is hosting the meeting and Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu will join his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov and Ukraine's top diplomat Dmytro Kuleba at the venue near the Turkish Mediterranean coastal city of Antalya. Thursday's meeting, which Cavusoglu said would be in a 'trilateral format,' will take place on the sidelines of an international diplomacy forum. Turkey, which has close ties to both Russia and Ukraine has sought to place itself as a mediator between the two foes.   The conflict is a "nightmare scenario" for Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program and Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in Washington D.C. Turkey has historic relations with Ukraine and strong ethnic ties with Ukraine's Crimean Tatar community. Ankara has spoken out against Russia's 2014 annexation of the Crimea, vowing never to recognize it. In Kyiv, Erdogan underlined Turkey's commitment to Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty, including Crimea. NATO-member Turkey backs Ukraine's efforts to join the alliance. Ankara has increased defense cooperation with Ukraine in recent years. It has sold Kyiv armed Bayraktar TB2 drones which have been used against pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine's Donbass region, angering Moscow. The two countries also plan joint defense industry production projects. The situation over Ukraine has put Turkey in a bind. The NATO member has been trying to repair its frayed ties with the US and other alliance members, following its controversial decision to buy advanced Russian air defense technology. But at the same time it cannot afford to damage its ties with Moscow. Turkey would be hard pressed to join in potential sanctions or operations against Russia. The country, which is struggling to cope with a major currency crisis, banks on tourism revenue to help its economy and provide vital foreign exchange, and Russia is Turkey's main tourism market. Moscow has exploited that situation in the past, stopping flights carrying tourists to Turkey — and halting agricultural imports — after Ankara downed a Russian military jet deployed in Syria in 2015. Turkey also needs to tread carefully with Russia in Syria. Ankara needs Moscow's approval to continue its presence in northern Syria, despite the two supporting opposite sides in Syria's civil war. In 2020, 37 Turkish soldiers were killed in Russian-backed airstrikes against rebels in Syria's last rebel-held Idlib province. To further complicate matters, Russia is a major source for Turkey's natural gas and is currently building the country's first nuclear power station. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/f99a4f988954454a9406fb60c0738c45