Turkish, Ukrainian leaders discuss Russia's war on Ukraine

ANKARA

In a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart, Turkiye's president on Monday discussed the war in Ukraine, continued peace negotiations, and the importance of establishing safe corridors.

Turkiye has made every effort to continue negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, and it is ready to provide more support, including mediation, Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to a statement from Turkiye’s Communications Directorate.

Erdogan also said that his country attaches particular importance to establishing a safe corridor for exporting Ukrainian agricultural products by sea.

Since the war began on Feb. 24, Russia cut Ukraine's flow of exports by blocking the Black Sea. The halt in exports has led to higher food prices worldwide and fears of shortages.

On a possible monitoring center for Ukraine to be based in the Turkish metropolis Istanbul, Erdogan said that Turkiye has a positive view on taking part in such a mechanism with the participation of Ukraine, Russia, and UN.

The first and the latest high-level meeting since the war began of the Ukrainian and Russian foreign ministers took place on March 10 on the sidelines of Turkiye's Antalya Diplomacy Forum, while on March 29, negotiators from both countries met in Istanbul.

More than 4,000 civilians have been killed and nearly 5,000 others injured in Ukraine since the war began on Feb. 24, according to UN estimates. The true toll is believed to be much higher.

Over 6.7 million people have fled to other countries, while more than 7.7 million have been internally displaced, according to the UN refugee agency.