Erdogan: Istanbul talks give peace impetus to Ukraine
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s office says the Russian-Ukrainian peace talks in Istanbul have given an important impetus to efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
During the phone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, Erdogan reiterated his proposal to bring Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin together in a meeting in Turkey, the statement added.
The Ukrainian president thanked his Turkish counterpart for Ankara’s readiness to provide security guarantees to Ukraine.
The two leaders agreed on further steps towards peace, the Ukrainian president added.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan previously expressed his country’s readiness in principle to play the role of guarantor of Ukraine’s security, but the details needed for such a formula to work must be determined.
Turkey is ready in principle to play the role of guarantor of Ukraine, President Erdogan was quoted as saying by media on Thursday, describing Moscow’s decision to scale back some of its operations near Kiev and Chernihiv as in fact important.
Speaking on a flight from Uzbekistan, Erdogan said the talks in Istanbul, during which Ukraine submitted a written proposal to Russia to end the war, had given an important boost to the process.
He added that he would again make an offer to host talks between Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On Tuesday, Turkey hosted peace talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations, during which the Ukrainian side proposed a system of security guarantees from several countries, including Turkey.
