Erdogan assures Putin of readiness to mediate and end the war

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has confirmed his willingness to take the initiative to end the Moscow-Kiev war and broker peace.

This came during a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which he discussed the situation in Ukraine, according to a statement from the Turkish presidency.

Erdogan and his Russian counterpart also discussed the exchange of Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko for ex-US Marine Trevor Reed during a telephone conversation on Thursday, the Turkish presidency said.

Russia and the United States held the exchange in Ankara on Wednesday, as bilateral relations have been extremely strained for decades by the war in Ukraine.

Putin thanked the Turkish intelligence agency for its cooperation and supervision of the exchange, the statement said.

It added that Erdogan told his Russian counterpart that the process was an indication of the importance Turkey attached to the peace process and its mediation efforts between Moscow and Kiev.

Ankara also reiterated its desire to continue the momentum achieved in the Ukraine-Russia talks in Istanbul earlier this month, it noted.