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Erdogan says plans to discuss situation around Ukraine with Putin over phone

The Turkish president said on January 26 that he had invited Putin to visit his country

ANKARA, February 20. /TASS/. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan plans to have telephone talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, soon to discuss the situation around Ukraine, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Sunday.

"Our president’s proposal to organize a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders, as a matter of fact, is the most important and concrete initiative toward settling the crisis," the Star newspaper quoted him as saying. "Our president continue attempts to organize such a meeting. During our recent visit to Ukraine, he discussed it with President Vladimir Zelensky. He also raised this matter with Mr. Putin. More telephone contacts will take place soon and this issue will be raised again."

The Turkish president said on January 26 that he had invited Putin to visit his country. He also said he was ready to organize Putin’s meeting with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. On February 16, Erdogan said he wanted to have a telephone conversation with Putin to learn about what he thinks about the idea of a trilateral top-level meeting in Turkey.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier that Moscow and Ankara had agreed to organize the Russian president visit but had not yet agreed the concrete date. He said the visit would be made when the two presidents’ schedules allowed. He also said that Putin’s possible meeting with Zelensky in Turkey had not been looked at.

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Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Military operation in Ukraine

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