President Erdoğan proposes to President Putin a unilateral ceasefire
“President Erdoğan stated that calls for peace and negotiations should be supported by a unilateral ceasefire and a vision for a just solution,” Erdoğan was quoted by his office as saying in a phone call with Putin. In a press release published by the Turkish presidency, it is shown that the two leaders discussed the grain corridor created on the Black Sea. Erdoğan also told the Kremlin leader that concrete steps are needed to free the region on the Syrian border from Kurdish militants, writes AFP. On February 24, Russia launched an unprovoked and unjustified aggression against Ukraine. Moscow claims that it is carrying out a “special military operation to de-Nazify” the neighboring country and to protect the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine.
Turkey hosted two early rounds of peace talks and helped strike a UN-backed agreement restoring Ukrainian grain deliveries across the Black Sea. Erdoğan has also repeatedly tried to bring Putin and Zelenskyy to Turkey for a peace summit. Erdoğan’s call for a ceasefire followed a proposal earlier Thursday by Russia’s spiritual leader Patriarch Kirill for an Orthodox Christmas truce this week. Erdoğan has been able to maintain good relations with Putin by refusing to join Western sanction on Russia and ramping up bilateral trade during the war. The two leaders now have tentative plans to set up a natural gas hub in Turkey that can offer Russia an alternate way of supplying Europe with fuel. Erdoğan’s office said that Turkey “has strengthened and will continue to strengthen the infrastructure” of the proposed hub. The two leaders hope to “implement (the project) as soon as possible,” Erdoğan’s office said.
By Sara Colin
