Turkey's Erdogan urges Putin to 'revive' Ukraine peace efforts
Erdogan told Putin that prolonging the war increases the risks
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a phone call on Friday urged his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to “revive” efforts to end the Ukraine war.
According to a statement issued by the Turkish presidency, Erdogan told Putin that prolonging the war increases the risks and called for diplomatic talks to be resumed.
The Turkish president also said that it was important to prevent “uncontrolled” escalation in the region, following this week’s missile incident in Poland that killed two people. Erdogan welcomed the recent meeting between American and Russian intelligence services in Ankara saying it was crucial to maintain dialogue.
Earlier on Thursday, Erdogan told reporters that Turkey aims to bring the warring sides in the Ukraine conflict together frequently to avoid it escalating into a more destructive war.
The two leaders also discussed the Black Sea grain deal that was recently extended for another 120 days after Moscow had put it on hold over Ukraine’s attack on the annexed Crimea.
Erdogan thanked Putin for the “constructive stance” on the issue and welcomed Moscow’s suggestion to create a natural gas hub in Turkey. He added that "technical and legal teams" will evaluate the proposal, according to the statement.