Erdogan Says Will Continue 'Telephone Diplomacy' With Putin, Zelenskyy

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that he is not intending to sever ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and will continue to contribute to peace talks between the parties

ANKARA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th May, 2022) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that he is not intending to sever ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and will continue to contribute to peace talks between the parties.

"I have no intentions of severing ties neither with Mr. Putin nor with Mr. Zelenskyy. I am continuing telephone diplomacy with both Mr. Putin and Mr. Zelensky. I have sent my special representative to both Moscow and Kiev. We will continue our policy. No one will benefit from a new world war," Erdogan told a meeting with youth, the video of which was published on his Twitter.

Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24 after the breakaway Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics applied for help in fending off Ukrainian forces. Moscow and Kiev have made several attempts to negotiate a ceasefire, with a couple of meetings taking place in Turkey. However, no agreement has been reached so far. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in mid-April that Moscow and Kiev continue negotiations in an online format.