Russia and Ukraine have agreed to “exchange 200 prisoners,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told PBS television on Monday.
“Soon 200 prisoners will be exchanged after an agreement between the parties,” said the Turkish head of state, considering that this is a significant step in this conflict.
Erdogan did not elaborate on this agreement, nor on the people involved – civilians or soldiers – during this interview conducted in Turkish.
For the Turkish head of state, Russian President Vladimir Putin “wants to end this war as soon as possible.”
Erdogan met with the Russian president last week in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, during a regional summit.
The Turkish president, who has managed to maintain his ties with Moscow and kyiv since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, periodically offers his mediation in this conflict and repeats that “we must find an agreement that satisfies everyone” .
However, for any peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, Erdogan stressed that it will be necessary to return the lands occupied by the Russians.
“It is what is intended and expected,” he declared, assuring that he is working in that direction with the UN Secretary General, António Guterres.
Ankara has constantly called for the return of Crimea to Ukraine since its occupation by Russia in 2014, Erdogan recalled, particularly concerned about the fate of the Turkic-speaking Tatar minority.
Erdogan arrived in New York in the United States on Saturday, where he is scheduled to speak today before the United Nations General Assembly.
The military offensive launched on February 24 by Russia in Ukraine has already caused the flight of more than 13 million people -more than six million internally displaced persons and more than 7.2 million to European countries-, according to the latest data from the UN, which places this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since the Second World War (1939-1945).
The Russian invasion – justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – was condemned by the generality of the international community, which has responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and imposing them on Russia. political and economic sanctions.
The UN presented as confirmed since the beginning of the war 5,916 civilian deaths and 8,616 wounded, highlighting that these figures are far below the real ones.
Source: TSF
