UN 'thankful' for Ankara's efforts in Ukraine peace talks: Spokesman

WASHINGTON

The United Nations said Wednesday that it thanked Turkiye for its efforts during talks to maintain peace between Russia and Ukraine which has been at war for more than a month.

Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a news conference that the UN continues to push for the success of the talks that recently took place in Istanbul.

"We're also very much thankful for the efforts of Turkiye in that in that regard and we hope that the statements and the promises that we heard turn into concrete action on the ground, which means silencing the guns," he said.

The latest round of talks hosted by Turkiye lasted three hours and Russian and Ukrainian negotiators later held separate news conferences to inform the world about the outcome.

While Ukraine has called for several countries, including Turkiye, to be guarantors in a possible future peace deal, Russia announced it will significantly decrease military activities in the direction of Kyiv and Chernihiv to increase trust for future negotiations.

Russia's war on Ukraine, which began Feb. 24, has drawn international outrage, with the EU, US, and UK, among others, implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.

At least 1,189 civilians have been killed and 1,901 have been injured in Ukraine, with the true figure likely to be much higher, according to the UN.

More than 4 million Ukrainians have also fled to other countries, with millions more internally displaced, according to the UN refugee agency.