ANKARA, February 26. /TASS/. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that he invited Russian leader Vladimir Putin to visit Turkey for negotiations on diplomatic solutions to the Ukraine crisis, the Turkish TV channel TGRT reported on Saturday.

"We should stand on the side of peace. I have asked Putin to visit Turkey. Diplomatic ways should not be closed," the channel said citing the president.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories. Its objective is demilitarization and denazification of the country.

When clarifying the developments unfolding, the Russian Defense Ministry reassured that Russian troops are not targeting Ukrainian cities, but are limited to surgically striking and incapacitating Ukrainian military infrastructure. There are no threats whatsoever to the civilian population.