Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call on Monday, November 24th, in which they focused on bilateral relations and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. According to the Turkish Presidency’s Communications Directorate, Erdoğan reiterated Türkiye’s commitment to facilitating a “fair and lasting peace.”
The statement also said “Türkiye, as it did in the past, is ready to contribute to every diplomatic initiative and plan that will pave the way for permanent peace in our region, to direct negotiations between (Russia and Ukraine).”
The Kremlin’s statement on the call emphasized that the leaders conducted “an exchange of views on the situation surrounding Ukraine, in particular in light of the recent U.S. peace proposals.” According to the statement, “Vladimir Putin pointed out that these proposals, in the form that they were in when the Russian side reviewed them, were in line with what had been discussed during the Russia–United States summit in Alaska and could in principle serve as a basis for the final peace settlement.”
The call between Erdoğan and Putin comes after the U.S. peace proposal aiming to end the war in Ukraine. Rather than celebrate the progress in the dialogue between the parties involved and the achievements of the Trump administration in mediating a draft peace deal, EU leaders are scrambling to appear relevant, criticizing the U.S. plan as being pro-Russia for including Ukrainian territorial concessions and rejecting Kyiv’s membership aspirations.
By contrast, while European politicians are hurt about being left out and shout demands from the sidelines, Erdoğan is one of the few leaders who has a direct line to Putin, and who could contribute to the progress of the peace talks, which many anticipate will finally bring human suffering to an end in the region.
