Turkey will be the starting point for steps to be taken on the situation around eastern Ukraine.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his conviction in this.
“It could be Istanbul or Ankara,” the Turkish leader told reporters after a festive prayer at the Çamlıca Mosque in Istanbul.
The Turkish head of state said that on Saturday, his press secretary Ibrahim Kalin and Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal traveled together to Kyiv, where they held meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and others.
“The wishes came from there, and, probably, this week we will have negotiations with Mr. Putin. Also, Mr. Ibrahim Kalyn, I hope, will speed up this process by meeting with Mr. Ushakov. I am interested in how we can speed up the evacuation, for example, in Mariupol, how we can find a solution to this issue, and we will try to do it,” Erdogan said.
The head of state noted that Turkey is making every effort to organize a meeting of the leaders of the Russian Federation and Ukraine in Istanbul or Ankara.
Erdogan also commented on the upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia.
“I am sure that relations between Ankara and Riyadh will reach a completely different level. We also discussed this at meetings with Mohammed bin Salman,” the President said.