Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he believes his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin is ready to end the war in Ukraine. His impression from a conversation with Putin was that he “wanted to end this as quickly as possible”. Erdogan also says the situation is “very problematic” for Russia.
The Turkish president said in an interview with US radio TV program He had “very intense discussions” with Vladimir Putin at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SSO) summit in the former Soviet state of Uzbekistan late last week.
Ukraine in recent weeks has regained control of a large part of its territory from Russian forces, which appear to be fleeing large parts of Ukraine in a panic.
“He gave me the impression that he is ready to put an end to this as soon as possible,” Erdogan said. “That was my impression, because the current situation is very problematic.”
Friend of Russia and Ukraine
Erdogan maintains good relations with both Russia and Ukraine. As a member of NATO, Turkey refuses to join the international sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. On the other hand, Ankara has delivered military drones to Kyiv. The Turkish president also brokered the grain deal between Russia and Ukraine.
Last week, Erdogan announced that Turkey wanted to join the SSO. German Chancellor Olaf Schulz said on Tuesday he was “extremely disturbed” by this. “This is not an organization that makes a significant contribution to a good global presence,” he said at the United Nations General Assembly in New York after meeting Erdogan. And the
“So I am very upset about this development. But in the end it is important to agree on what leads us to make clear that the Russian war against Ukraine should not be successful.”
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