Erdogan Invites Putin to Turkey Consultations

On Thursday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan invited his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to peace talks in Turkey with Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky.

In a telephone conversation with Putin, Erdogan said a lasting ceasefire could lead to a longer-term solution.

Erdogan’s office reported this on Thursday. The Turkish president spoke to Putin earlier and then already suggested that the fight be stopped, and high-level negotiations begin. These had to be about a permanent ceasefire and evacuations of civilians, among other things.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu met his Ukrainian counterpart Dmitro Koeleba on Thursday in Lviv in western Ukraine.

Cavusoglu said he hoped for a truce at the Russian port city of Mariupol, which was heavily besieged by the Russians. According to the minister, more than a hundred Turks are there.