Erdoğan reiterates offer to host Putin, Zelenskyy

After the negotiations in İstanbul between the delegations of Russia and Ukraine, Ankara wants to host the presidents of the two countries.

İstanbul

Erdoğan reiterates offer to host Putin, Zelenskyy

Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in İstanbul this week have "raised hopes for peace," President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told President Vladimir Putin of Russia in a phone call today (April 1).

Erdoğan also reiterated his offer to host Vladimir Putin and their President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, according to a statement from the Presidency Communications Directorate.

Putin expressed thanks to peace negotiations in İstanbul, said the statement.

After having held several meetings in Belarus, delegations from Russia and Ukraine came together on Tuesday (March 29) at a presidential office in İstanbul's Dolmabahçe Palace.

After the İstanbul meeting, a negotiator from Ukraine said Kyiv wants Turkey among the countries that will be guarantors in any deal with Moscow.

In early March, foreign ministers of the two countries came together in Antalya, southern Turkey, for the first time since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began on February 24. The invasion has caused at least 1,234 civilian deaths, according to UN figures.

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Russia's invasion of Ukraine

On February 24, explosions were reported in several Ukrainian provinces, including the capital Kyiv, after Russia's President Vladimir Putin announced a 'special military operation' in the Donbas region.

Tensions had started escalating late last year when Ukraine, the US and its allies accused Russia of amassing tens of thousands of troops on the border with Ukraine. They claimed Russia was preparing to invade its western neighbor, which was consistently rejected by Moscow.

Defying threats of sanctions by the West, Moscow officially recognized Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states in late February, followed by the start of the invasion of Ukraine.

President Vladimir Putin said the operation aims to protect people "subjected to genocide" by Kyiv and to "demilitarize and de-Nazify" Ukraine, while calling on the Ukrainian army to lay down its arms.

At least 1,234 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since the start of the war, and more than 1,900 others have been injured, according to the UN estimates.

More than 3.8 million Ukrainians have also fled to neighboring countries, with over 6.5 million more displaced inside the country, according to the UN refugee agency.

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