Erdogan to hold telephonic discussions with Putin, Zelenskyy with hopes to end war

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Friday, said that he was mulling holding telephonic conversations with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts in hopes to bring the war in eastern Europe to an end. The Turkish leader hoped that he could bring both Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the negotiation table in the coming days. Ankara has been carefully balancing between Kyiv and Moscow-both allies-while trying to bolster its regional significance amidst the ongoing humanitarian crisis. 

Speaking to media reporters in Ankara, Erdogan asserted that he wasn’t hopeless about possible peace talks between the warring sides. "Our friends will get in touch with them today, we plan to hold a call again with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy today or tomorrow," he said. Erdogan, who is a close ally of the Russian President, also underscored that if the calls become successful, he will carry the process to the leaders’ level in Istanbul.

Turkey walking a diplomatic tightrope

Since the start of the conflict, Turkey has been walking a diplomatic tightrope between allies Russian and Ukraine. Earlier in the war, the Erdogan administration shut down the strategic Bosporus Strait to warships of "belligerent countries." It is to mention that Kyiv had asked Ankara to block Russian warships, but it has taken no firm step till now. Also, a threat arose late in March, when a naval mine, was discovered in the Bosphorus Strait, prompting authorities to halt the passage of ships for a few hours.

Interestingly, Russia’s main intelligence agency had, on March 21, warned that several hundred maritime mines had got dislodged from cables near Ukrainian coasts and drifted into the Black Sea. “After the start of the Russian special military operation, Ukrainian naval forces had deployed barriers of mines around the ports of Odesa, Ochakov, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhny,” the FSB Security Service had warned. The cables were cut due to storms, and some of them were floating freely in the western Black Sea, pushed along by wind and the currents, it had added. However, Kyiv dismissed the warning stating it was another Maskirovka (fake story).

(Image: AP)