Erdogan declaring his readiness to take initiative to end war in Ukraine

Baghdad-INA 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, his readiness to take an initiative to end the war in Ukraine .

Erdogan said, during a telephone conversation with Putin, that he is "ready to take the initiative to end the war between Russia and Ukraine and mediate the path to peace," the Turkish presidency said in a statement. 

Erdogan also expressed his desire to establish lasting peace in the region as quickly as possible by increasing the momentum gained during the Istanbul talks.

The Turkish presidency added that "Putin thanked Erdogan for the prisoner exchange between Washington and Moscow, which was announced on Wednesday and took place in Turkey with the coordination and supervision of the Turkish intelligence services.

Former Marine Trevor Reed, who was sentenced to nine years in prison in Russia, was exchanged with pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who had been imprisoned in the United States since 2010.

Turkey, a NATO member and ally of Ukraine, has been trying to facilitate mediation between Moscow and Kiev, and has so far refused to join Western sanctions against Russia.

Turkey twice hosted direct negotiations between the two parties on March 10 at the ministerial level in Antalya and on March 29 in Istanbul. 

Since then, Erdogan has said on several occasions that he wants to host a meeting in Istanbul between Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.