Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed support for his steps to end the Russia-Ukraine war in a telephone conversation with his US counterpart Donald Trump.
“Erdogan expressed support for US President Trump’s steps to take a direct and decisive initiative to end the Russia-Ukraine war and said Turkey has been striving for a just and lasting peace since the beginning of the war and will continue to do so in the future,” his press office said in a statement.
The U.S. side has not yet reported the conversation.
On 11 March, the delegations of Ukraine and the United States met in Saudi Arabia. During the talks, Ukraine agreed with the proposal of the US side to introduce a ceasefire in the war with Russia for 30 days. The delegations also discussed the importance of humanitarian efforts as part of the peace process, particularly during the ceasefire, including the exchange of prisoners of war, the release of held civilians and the return of forcibly displaced Ukrainian children.
US President Donald Trump expressed confidence on 12 March that a ceasefire could be reached, and his special envoy Steve Witkoff visited Moscow on 13 March to talk to the Kremlin about the situation.
The Ukrainian president’s office said following these talks that the parties to the Saudi negotiations agree on the unacceptability of a frozen conflict scenario.
On 13 March, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia agreed with the proposal put forward by the USA for a 30-day cease-fire in Ukraine, but “there are nuances”.