ANKARA (Reuters) – Senior advisers for Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday agreed to intensify efforts for talks between Ukraine and Russia to yield a ceasefire, Turkish media reported.
Ceasefire talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials began on the Belarusian border on Monday as Russia faced deepening economic isolation four days after invading Ukraine.
In a call, Ibrahim Kalin, Erdogan’s chief adviser, and U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan discussed the invasion and other regional issues, the private Demiroren News Agency (DHA) and others cited a statement as saying.
“It was agreed to intensity joint efforts for peace talks being held between Ukraine and the Russian Federation to yield results and for a ceasefire to be achieved,” the statement said, according to DHA.
NATO ally Turkey on Sunday called Russia’s invasion a “war”, allowing it to implement clauses in a 1936 pact that will limit the passage of some Russian vessels through Turkish straits into the Black Sea, as Western powers rained sanctions on Moscow.
Turkey shares a maritime border with both Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea, and has good ties with both. It has offered to host peace talks, while calling for an immediate end to the war.
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
