Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he believes Vladimir Putin wants to end the war in Ukraine, following recent talks he had with the Russian president.
He said his impression from Putin was that he wanted to end the conflict “as soon as possible” after comprehensive discussions at a summit in Uzbekistan last week.
It comes as Ukraine has recaptured increasingly large amounts of occupied territory, with the most recent victory the village of Bilohorivka in the Luhansk region. This latest setback for Kremlin means they no longer have full control over the province.
Zelensky’s forces have launched a counter-offensive in the southern region of Kherson as well as having regained much control in the Kharviv region north-east.
Moscow’s submarines have also retreated from Crimea to Krasnodar in southern Russia amid a local security threat, the British defence ministry said.
In an interview with US broadcaster PBS, Erdogan said the situation for Russia is “quite problematic”.
He added: “[Putin] is actually showing me that he’s willing to end this as soon as possible.”
When asked by PBS if Moscow should be allowed to keep hold of the territory it had gained control of since the beginning of the war, Erdogan said: “No, and undoubtedly no.”
However, Putin’s recent comments made while receiving credentials from foreign ambassadors show no sign of regret nor reluctance in pursuing his invasion in Ukraine.
He said: “The objective development toward a multipolar world faces resistance of those who try to preserve their hegemony in global affairs and control everything - Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa.”
He added that “the hegemony has succeeded in doing so for quite a long time, but it can’t go on forever... regardless of the developments in Ukraine.
“As for Russia, we won’t deviate from our sovereign course.”
