For Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who met Russian President Vladimir Putin last week in Samarkand (Uzbekistan), the head of the Kremlin “wants to end this war as soon as possible”.
The Turkish President, who has managed to maintain his ties with Moscow and kyiv since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, has regularly offered his mediation in this conflict and repeats that “we must find an agreement that satisfy everyone”.
But for any peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, it will be necessary to return the occupied lands, he insisted: “This is what is expected and hoped for”, he continues, assuring that he and that UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres are “working on it”.
Ankara has continued to demand the return of Crimea (south) to Ukraine since its occupation by Russia in 2014, he recalled, worrying in particular regarding the fate of the Turkish-speaking Tatar minority.
