Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan shake hands during a meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan September 16, 2022. Sputnik/Alexander Demyanchuk/Pool via REUTERS
ISTANBUL, Oct 7 (Reuters) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan spoke by phone with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin about improving bilateral ties and he repeated Ankara’s willingness to do its part to peacefully resolve the war in Ukraine, Erdogan’s office said on Friday.
The latest developments in Ukraine, which Russia invaded earlier this year, were also discussed in the call, according to Turkey’s Directorate of Communications.
NATO member Turkey has close relations with both Ukraine and Russia and has sought to balance ties during the war, rejecting Western sanctions on Moscow while criticising the Russian invasion and supplying Kyiv with armed drones.
Along with the United Nations, Turkey brokered the July deal to unlock Ukrainian grain exports from its Black Sea ports, in what remains the only significant diplomatic breakthrough in the seven-month-old conflict.
Ankara’s relations with Russia are complex, with the two countries cooperating closely on energy supplies while being at odds over Syria, Libya and Azerbaijan.
Reporting by Ece Toksabay; Writing by Jonathan Spicer; editing by Mark Heinrich
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