Erdogan hopes war comes to end at the negotiating table

Turkey is ready to provide all the necessary support to resume negotiations on ending the war, particularly on the basis formed in Istanbul in March.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said this at a press conference following his visit to Ukraine, Ukrinform reports.

"We separately indicated the international community's support for the restoration of the diplomatic process. I hope that the war will finally be over at the negotiating table. Zelensky and Guterres agree with this. The whole point is to determine the shortest and fairest way to the negotiating table," Erdogan said.

According to him, negotiations in Istanbul can be resumed.

"I believe the negotiations can be resumed on the basis formed in Istanbul in March. We are ready to play the role of a mediator again to provide all kinds of support to achieve this goal," Erdogan said.

The President of Turkey also said that the exchange of prisoners of war was discussed during the negotiations.

"During the meeting (in Lviv – ed.), we discussed the exchange of prisoners of war and our initiatives. I want to say that we are not indifferent to this issue. I believe that those who follow this are trying to answer the question of what happened to the exchange prisoners," Erdogan said.

Reference

Today, August 18, the President of Turkey is on a one-day working visit to Ukraine. This is the first face-to-face meeting between the leaders of the states since the beginning of russia's large-scale armed aggression against Ukraine on February 24.

The Turkish delegation led by President Erdogan includes five ministers, the head of intelligence, and the Baykar CEO Haluk Bayraktar.

Read Rubryka's timeline of war: current news on Ukraine's defense against russia's aggression.