Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called for an “immediate” end to the war in Ukraine during a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday.
Erdoğan “underlined the importance Türkiye attaches to the immediate ending of the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine through negotiations” and “thanked President Putin for his positive stance on the extension of the Black Sea Grains Initiative,” according to a statement by Turkey’s Communications Directorate.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July enables Ukrainian grain exports to safely travel through the Black Sea.
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Russia last weekend agreed to extend the deal by another 60 days, but warned that any further extension would require the easing of western sanctions, according to Portal.
While Turkey has largely maintained economic ties with Russia during its years-long war in Ukraine, Ankara last month ordered companies to halt the transit of goods sanctioned by the US and European Union to Russia, Bloomberg reported.
Erdoğan’s call for a ceasefire and negotiations follows a similar call for an end to hostilities made by China and Belarus earlier this month. However, the efforts of the two countries were largely viewed with skepticism by the West, as both appeared increasingly closer to Russia.
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