'Land 'invaded' by Russia amid ongoing Ukraine war will be returned,' proclaims Erdogan

President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a private meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on September 16 during the ongoing SCO summit in Samarkand. The two leaders had an extensive discussion majorly focusing on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.  

According to Erdogan’s claims, Putin had expressed to him that Russia was willing to end the war in Ukraine “as soon as possible." Erdogan further stated that Russia must return all Ukrainian land occupied by it.   

"If peace is going to be established in Ukraine, of course, returning the land that was invaded will become really important. This is what is expected," Erdogan said during an interview with PBS while assuring that the lands which were occupied by Russia “will be returned to Ukraine”. 

Turkey's significant efforts to mediate between Russia and Ukraine  

Turkey has been actively engaged in trying to mediate the normalization of relations between Ukraine and Russia. After successfully establishing the Black Sea Grain Initiative in collaboration with the United Nations to alleviate the emerging global food grain shortages, Turkey has revealed that it was now working to broker a deal between Russia and Ukraine to release 200 prisoners of war (POWs) of the raging conflict.  

“200 hostages will be exchanged upon an agreement between the parties. I think a significant step will be taken forward,” said Erdogan in the PBS interview.  

Erdogan further revealed that he had asked Putin to return Crimea to its “rightful owners” while maintaining the opinion that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine's territory could not be justified.  

The President of Turkey also informed that he was comprehensively in communication with both Putin and Zelenskyy to help establish a peaceful conclusion to the conflict while reiterating that the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was holding talks with all the parties involved.  

Erdogan suggests the right way forward

Signifying the need to bring the conflict to an end as soon as possible, Erdogan has stated that the mediating parties should focus on trying to broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia instead of taking sides in the conflict. “We cannot hold sides. We cannot take sides. And it wouldn't be right for us to do that,” he said while stressing on UN’s importance in leading the initiative to usher peace. The Secretary-General of the UN had earlier stated that the organization is ready to facilitate negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in order to find a peaceful resolution to the Russia-Ukraine war under the UN Charter.