Russia willing to end the conflict in Ukraine 'as soon as possible': Putin tells Erdogan

President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has revealed that Russia is willing to end the Ukraine war as soon as possible. When asked during an interview with PBS on how soon he sees the conflict ending, Erdogan established that Russia's attitude will be “very, very important” to put an end to the Russia-Ukraine war.  

In the midst of the Samarkand summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the President of Turkey held a private meeting with Vladimir Putin on 16 September. Erdogan revealed that he had an extensive discussion with Putin regarding the ongoing war in Ukraine. According to Erdogan’s claims in the context of his discussion with the Russian President regarding the Russia-Ukraine war, Putin had expressed to him "that he's willing to end this as soon as possible."  

Turkey making serious contributions for the normalization of the situation  

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, in a televised address to the nation, announced the commencement of a special military operation in Ukraine in response to a request by the heads of the Republics of Donbas. In the subsequent aftermath of the launch of the operation, the US, the EU, the UK, and a number of other countries announced sanctions against the Russian Federation. Furthermore, the West supplied billions of dollars worth of arms and ammunition to Kyiv.  

Turkey has since been actively engaged in trying to mediate the normalization of relations between Russia and Ukraine. Back in July, Turkey in cooperation with the Russian Federation, Ukraine, and the United Nations launched the Black Sea Grain Initiative to enable the resumption of exports of grain from Ukraine through a safe maritime humanitarian corridor.  

Previously, in March, Erdogan had revealed after a telephonic conversation with Putin that Russia's precise demands were to establish a peace deal with Ukraine, reported BBC.  

Addressing the 22nd meeting of the council of heads of state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Turkey’s President stated that “Our aim is to create an environment of peace in our region and beyond in a spirit of enterprising diplomacy that focuses on human and humanitarian values.” while asserting that Turkey was making “intensive efforts in order for the conflicts in Ukraine to be brought to an end through diplomacy as soon as possible”