Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held telephone talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in which he stressed that prolonging the war in Ukraine will increase the risks, so diplomatic talks must be revived.
A statement issued by the Turkish Presidency’s Communications Department, on Friday, stated that Erdogan and Putin discussed bilateral relations and regional issues, foremost of which are developments in the grain corridor.
The statement indicated that Erdogan assured Putin that the prolongation of the Russian-Ukrainian war will increase the risks, so diplomatic talks must be revived.
In a related development, Erdogan said, “The meeting of the chiefs of the Russian and American intelligence services in Turkey played a pivotal role in reducing the uncontrolled escalation on the ground.”
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The Turkish president welcomed his Russian counterpart’s proposal to establish a global natural gas center in Turkey.
On the proposal, Erdogan said: “The concerned teams will conduct technical, legal and commercial studies to reach common goals as soon as possible.”
He thanked Putin for his constructive stance by extending the Istanbul agreement on grain shipment through the Black Sea waterway for a period of 120 days.
President Erdogan also thanked his Russian counterpart for his condolences to the victims of the terrorist attack that took place in central Istanbul on November 13.
