Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke on the phone on Sunday with his Russian counterpart to whom he called for an “urgent general ceasefire” in Ukraine, but Vladimir Putin first demands that Russia’s conditions be met.
The two heads of state met a few days before the Antalya Diplomatic Forum, scheduled for March 11 to 13 in southern Turkey, in which Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is due to participate.
Turkey also hopes to welcome the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs to promote a meeting between the heads of diplomacy of the two countries.
“An urgent and general ceasefire will make it possible to seek a political solution and to respond to humanitarian concerns,” said the Turkish head of state.
He also called for the “urgent” opening of humanitarian corridors in Ukraine.
“Let’s pave the way to peace together,” Erdogan said to his Russian counterpart, according to the Turkish presidency, saying he was “ready to make his contribution in all forms to the peaceful resolution of the issue”.
The Russian presidency for its part affirmed, in a press release, that “the suspension of the special operation [en Ukraine] is only possible if Kiev ceases hostilities and fulfills the well-known Russian conditions”.
The Kremlin says it hopes that in the next round of negotiations Ukraine “will take a more constructive approach and take emerging realities into consideration”.
According to Turkish media, the telephone conversation between the two presidents lasted an hour.
A member of NATO and an ally of Ukraine, Turkey has been trying since the beginning of the conflict to maintain its relations with Russia, on which it depends for many of its imports.
Mr. Erdogan has repeatedly offered to host talks between Ukraine and Russia.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavusoglu on Friday expressed the hope of bringing together his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts in Antalya at the end of the week.
“We believe that these meetings will have a positive impact. In particular, a meeting at the leadership level could prevent the war from causing greater destruction,” Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Saturday.
Turkey’s first lady, Emine Erdogan, for her part sent a video message to Olena Zelensky, wife of the Ukrainian president.
“My dear friend Olena and dear people of Ukraine, I convey to you the most sincere friendship and respect of the Turkish people,” she said, expressing “her sadness at the attacks on Ukraine” and her “ indescribable grief as a wife, mother and grandmother”.