Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday he will tell his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in a phone call later that he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy need to take a step to address issues over Ukraine’s Donbas region and Crimea.
The Russia invasion in Ukraine has taken a huge toll on Ukrainian civilians, who have become refuges in neighboring countries such as Poland. The Russian military have bombed residents, hospitals and civilians refuge buildings. This has left most Ukrainians fearing for their lives.
Speaking to reporters in Istanbul, Erdogan said he will hold the phone call with Putin at 1300 GMT and renew an offer to host the Russian and Ukrainian leaders for peace talks, which he said Zelenskiy was warm towards after their call on Thursday.
The Ukrainian foreign minister said that he will be grateful to Turkey if it could organize a meeting between Russian and Ukrainian leaders.