The President of Turkey believes that Vladimir Putin wants to end the war in Ukraine and a significant step will be made soon
The President of Turkey – Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that he believes that the President of Russia – Vladimir Putin wants to end the war in Ukraine and that a significant step will be made.
He said he could feel that during his meeting with Putin on the sidelines of recently held Uzbekistan Summit. He also said that Russia and Ukraine have agreed to swap 200 prisoners in one of the largest exchanges of the seven-month war.
Speaking to media, Erdogan said, “He is actually showing me that he’s willing to end this as soon as possible. That was my impression, because the way things are going right now are quite problematic.”
He further said, “Two hundred hostages will be exchanged upon agreement between the parties. I think a significant step will be taken forward.”
When questioned by media if Russia should be allowed to keep any territory it had taken since February, and whether that should be part of a peace deal, Erdogan said, “No, and undoubtedly no.”
He said that the land taken over by Russia during its Ukraine war will be returned to Ukraine.
Turkey, a close ally of Russia, has always said to lead negotiations in Ukraine war. Turkey has opposed the Western sanctions on Russia. Earlier this month, Erdogan accused the West of adopting a policy of “provocation” towards Russia and warned that the war was unlikely to end “any time soon.” Turkey played a major role in striking a deal with the help of United Nations (U.N.) in resuming the export of foodgrain from the Russian controlled Odesa Port in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, 2 months after Russian forces seized control over the entire eastern region of Luhansk, Ukraine has reclaimed part of the territory. Luhansk’s Ukrainian Leader – Serhiy Haidai said Russian forces had retreated from the village of Bilohorivka.
Putin said last week he is open to meeting the President of Ukraine – Volodymyr Zelenskyy. However, Russia has not given any indication that it is prepared to accept Kyiv’s demands for a full withdrawal from Ukrainian territory, including the Crimean Peninsula which it seized in 2014. The Ex-President of Russia – Dmitry Medvedev has said that Russian-backed separatists should hold referendums on annexing the territories of Luhansk and Donetsk.
Besides, after recapturing much of the Kharkiv region in the North-east, Ukraine forces have now launched a counter-offensive in the Southern region of Kherson, forcing its Russian-installed leader to delay a referendum on joining Russia.
