War in Ukraine: Erdogan tries to mediate with Vladimir Putin

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Dubai on February 15, 2022. AP - Ebrahim Noroozi

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke on the phone this Sunday with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to whom he called for an "

" in Ukraine to " 

 ".

Erdogan also reiterated his offer of mediation between Kiev and Moscow.

But Vladimir Putin, once again, demanded that Russia's conditions be met first.

Advertising

Read more

With our correspondent in Istanbul,

Give a chance to

, to dialogue, to civilians who want to flee to safety through a humanitarian corridor: this is Ankara's recurring appeal to Moscow, from Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Vladimir Putin, with which he spoke for about an hour over the phone.

The two men know each other well – they have been together for 19 years – and have strengthened their exchanges in recent years.

Before the Russian attack, Recep Tayyip Erdogan had offered several times to organize talks between Vladimir Putin and his

to whom the Turkish president is also close.

This offer of mediation holds more than ever, but initially, Turkey has good hopes of hosting a meeting between the heads of Russian and Ukrainian diplomacy at the Diplomatic Forum in Antalya, scheduled for March 11-13.

Turkey, while being a member of NATO and strongly condemning the invasion of Ukraine, refuses to join the sanctions against Russia.

Officially " 

 ", but also to protect its interests as much as possible, in particular its already fragile economy.

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

• Ukraine

• Russia

• Diplomacy

• Turkey

• Recep Tayyip Erdogan

• Vladimir Poutine