Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he will suggest Russian President Vladimir Putin to find an honorable exit from Ukraine and end the war.
Speaking to reporters on a return flight from a NATO summit in Brussels, Erdogan said Turkey could not impose sanctions on Russia due to its energy needs and cooperation.
“We are purchasing half of our gas from Russia,” Erdogan said. “We are building the Akkuyu Nuclear Energy Plant with Russia.”
“I may have a talk with Putin either this weekend or early next week. As we will make an assessment of the NATO meetings with him, we should tell him, ‘After this, you should be the architect of the moves for peace.’ We should find a way to end this by suggesting him ‘Find an honorable exit,’” Erdogan said.
Erdogan added that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was likely to end Ukraine’s bid for NATO membership.
“Ukraine also expressed that it could make some concessions on disarmament,” Erdogan said.
Erdogan and Zelensky held a phone conversation to discuss the situation in Ukraine.
Turkey's position on its acquisition of Russian S-400 missile defense systems is unchanged and the matter is a "done deal", Erdogan was cited as saying, adding talks with Washington on new F-16 jets and kits were going well.
He further said Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett may soon visit Turkey, as Jerusalem and Ankara move to improve ties. He also said cooperation on natural gas could play a key role in furthering diplomatic ties.
