Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by phone with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Sunday, calling for an “urgent general ceasefire” in Ukraine, according to a statement from the Turkish presidency.
The two heads of state spoke a few days before the Diplomatic Forum in Antalya, scheduled for March 11-13 in southern Turkey, which Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is due to attend.
“An urgent and general ceasefire will make it possible to find a political solution and respond to humanitarian concerns,” said the Turkish head of state.
He also demanded the “urgent opening of humanitarian corridors” in Ukraine.
“Let’s open the path of peace together,” Erdogan told his Russian counterpart. Official Turkish media said the conversation lasted an hour.
Putin, for his part, assured the Turkish president that the “special operation (as Moscow describes the invasion of Ukraine) will only stop if Kiev abandons the resistance and accepts the Russian demandsreports the Russian state agency RIA Novosticiting government sources. In addition, the president added that he is willing to dialogue on the condition that Ukraine accepts its demilitarization, “denazification” and the commitment to be a neutral country, without attempts to join NATO.
Erdogan assured him that he continues to make efforts to conduct negotiations and that “he is ready for any contribution to the solution, as soon as possible, of the Ukraine problem by peaceful methods.”
Turkey is performing a delicate balancing act. On the one hand, it is a member of NATO and an ally of Ukraine. On the other, it needs to maintain good relations with Russia, on which it depends heavily for its imports.
Erdogan has repeatedly offered to host talks between Kiev and Moscow.
(With information from AFP and EFE)
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