Erdogan calls Putin and asks him to end the war ‘as soon as possible’

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday conveyed to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin his wish for the war in Ukraine to “end as soon as possible”, in a conversation in which they also discussed issues related to energy, the fight against terrorism and the agreement for the export of grain from Ukrainian ports.

The Turkish Presidency has indicated in a statement published on its account on the social network Twitter that Erdogan has communicated to Putin his “sincere hope” for an agreement for the end of the war and extolled the results obtained through the grain agreement, reached in July with the mediation of Ankara and the United Nations.

On the other hand, Erdogan has denounced “terrorist attacks” by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Kurdish-Syrian militia People’s Protection Units (YPG) and called for the full implementation of the agreement reached in Sochi in 2019.

Thus, he stressed that this agreement contemplated measures for “the withdrawal of terrorists from the border” and reiterated “the importance and priority of clearing the area in a space of up to 30 kilometers along the entire border (between Turkey and Syria)”.

Turkish President Erdogan, with his Russian counterpart Putin, in a phone call, discuss:

– Türkiye-Russia relations, especially energy
– Istanbul grain deal
– Fight against terrorism pic.twitter.com/uKkC0diUY6

— TRT World (@trtworld) December 11, 2022

Turkey launched “Operation Claw-Sword” on November 21, a bombing campaign against Kurdish groups following the November 13 bombing in the Turkish city of Istanbul, which left six dead and more than 80 wounded.

For its part, the Kremlin has pointed out that both, Putin and Erdogan, have addressed “issues related to the expansion of bilateral cooperation in various fields”, including the “record growth at the trade level” and the implementation of the July agreements on the export of grain from ports in the Black Sea.

In this regard, the Russian Presidency has outlined in a statement on the web that “has been considered the export of Russian agricultural products and fertilizers” and added that “this agreement is of a complex nature, which requires the removal of barriers to relevant supplies by Russia to meet the needs of countries in greater need”.

-Thailand News (TN)