Putin in a conversation with Erdogan confirmed Russia’s openness to dialogue on Ukraine

Russia is ready for a serious dialogue on a settlement in Ukraine if Kyiv fulfills the previously announced requirements and takes into account the “new territorial realities,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, transmits Kremlin press office.

“In the light of Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s readiness for Turkish mediation for a political settlement of the conflict, Vladimir Putin reaffirmed Russia’s openness to a serious dialogue, provided that the Kyiv authorities fulfill the well-known and repeatedly voiced demands and take into account new territorial realities,” the report says.

Putin also during the conversation called the destructive role of Western states that continue to pump weapons and military equipment to the Kyiv regime, as well as provide it with operational information and target designations.

In addition to Ukraine, the parties also discussed the further expansion of trade and economic ties between Russia and Turkey, primarily the creation of a regional gas hub in Turkey and the construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant.

In addition, Putin gave a positive assessment of the meeting of the defense ministers held in Moscow at the end of December with the participation of the heads of the intelligence services of Russia, Turkey and Syria, expressing the hope that the development of contacts in this format will contribute to a radical improvement in the situation in Syria.

The first about the conversation between the two presidents reported Erdogan administration. They stressed that the parties discussed the completion of the gas hub roadmap. The Turkish leader, the administration noted, called for an early “unilateral ceasefire in Ukraine and a peaceful settlement of the crisis, transmitted TASS.

On December 9, Putin during a video address to the participants of the meeting of the heads of defense departments of the SCO and CIS member states declaredthat Western countries have turned Ukraine into a colony and use the Ukrainian people as cannon fodder. The President emphasized that the West had for a long time “shamelessly pumped out and exploited the resources” of Ukraine, and also “encouraged genocide and terror in the Donbass.” According to him, Western countries use the people of this country “as a battering ram against Russia, continuing to supply Ukraine with weapons and ammunition.”

On December 26, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba proposed holding a kind of “peace summit” at the UN site at the end of February. The UN said that the Secretary General of the world organization António Guterres is ready to mediate during the negotiations, if all parties agree to this. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said that Russia will not be follow the conditions of Ukraine, since Moscow is guided only by its own goals and common sense.