Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday he was ready to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow in a bid to ease rising tensions over Ukraine.
Turkey has previously proposed hosting talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials in Istanbul under a peace format overseen by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Erdogan is expected to travel to Kiev for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in early February.
“I have an upcoming visit to Ukraine,” Erdogan told reporters after Friday prayers.
“In the meantime, there could be a phone call with Mr. Putin or he could visit Moscow,” he added without elaborating.
NATO member Turkey backs Ukraine’s ambition to join the Western defense alliance.
He never acknowledged Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in 2014 and has signed several major defense contracts with Kiev.
But Erdogan also has a close working relationship with Putin despite disagreeing with the Russian leader on multiple fronts.
He said on Thursday that he had “warm ties with both Ukraine and Russia” and would do everything to prevent a war from breaking out.
“We want peace to prevail in our region, and for that, we are willing to do anything,” he reaffirmed this Friday.