Erdogan asks Putin to give “a second chance” to the peace negotiations with Ukraine

Sep. 30 () –

The president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has asked his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to give “a second chance” to the peace negotiations with Ukraine, a few hours before Moscow formalizes the accession to Russia of four occupied Ukrainian regions. in the context of the invasion.

The Directorate of Communications of the Turkish Presidency has indicated in a statement that both leaders have had a telephone conversation in which Erdogan has reiterated that Ankara “is prepared to assume a role of facilitator” in the contacts between Moscow and kyiv.

Likewise, he has reported that Erdogan has shown his “satisfaction” with the recent exchange of prisoners between the two countries, as well as with the operation of the Istanbul Agreement for the restart of grain exports through Ukrainian ports. The Turkish president has also advocated “extending the mechanism”, which expires in November.

In this sense, Erdogan has stated that this extension “would be of mutual benefit” and has emphasized that “there is work underway for the uninterrupted export of Russian fertilizer and grain”, a demand from Moscow that would be seen as a counterpart to the opening of the ports.

Finally, the president has also outlined the need to “reduce tensions to pave the way for favorable events” and has said that he expects “steps” from Moscow in relation to the accession of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, as well as the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions, to “facilitate the process”.

Erdogan has thus made a veiled request to Putin not to proceed to annex these territories, after having said that the results of the referendums and the accession of these regions to Russia would not be recognized, in line with the position maintained by the international community .