ANKARA, Mar 26 (NNN-ANADOLU) – Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, held a phone conversation to discuss the situation in Ukraine.
The two leaders discussed the situation on the ground and the stage of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, according to a statement issued by the Turkish presidency.
Erdogan told Zelensky that he once again had emphasised Turkey’s support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity at the NATO leaders’ summit, which was held in Brussels Thursday, said the statement.
The Turkish president said, he had told the leaders of NATO members about Turkey’s “active and principled policy, and the effective diplomatic efforts comprehensively.”
“Turkey has put into practice all the help it can in this process,” Erdogan told Zelensky.
Earlier, Erdogan said, he would make a phone conversation with Russian President, Vladimir Putin, this weekend or early next week, to inform him of his discussions at the NATO summit.
“As we evaluate the meetings at the NATO (summit), I will tell him ‘Now you should be the architect of a step to be taken for peace’ for the next process. We should find a way to end this by suggesting him ‘to make an honourable exit’,” Erdogan said.
Moscow and Kiev were close to an agreement on four issues, including Ukraine’s neutrality, partial disarmament, security guarantees, and the use of the Russian language in Ukraine, the Turkish president told journalists, on his flight from Belgium to Turkey.
But the Russian demands on the future status of Crimea and Donbass continue to be the most important disagreement in negotiations, he said.
Last week, Erdogan renewed his offer to bring the leaders of Russia and Ukraine together in Turkey, for final decisions on these topics.– NNN-ANADOLU