Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan believes that Russia is seeking to end the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible. He expressed this opinion on Monday in an interview with the US PBS.
Asked how soon he thinks the conflict in Ukraine will end, the Turkish leader said that "Russia's position is very important in the first place." "In Uzbekistan, I met with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, and we had very detailed talks," Erdogan said. According to him, the Russian leader " showed that he was eager to end it as soon as possible."
According to Erdogan, "things are rather problematic right now." "I think there will be a significant step forward," the Turkish president said. At the same time, he stressed that he was "eager for this battle to end in peace."
Last Friday, the presidents of Russia and Turkey held talks on the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Samarkand. Following the meeting, the Russian head of state noted that Erdogan had not offered him to organize talks with the leader of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky, and also stressed that the Turkish president was making a significant contribution to the normalization of the situation, including the solution of the food issue.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in Ukraine in response to a request for assistance from the leaders of the Donbass republics. After that, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and a number of other countries imposed large-scale sanctions against Russia. In addition, Western countries stepped up arms deliveries to Kiev worth billions of dollars.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS