Turkey warns will take years to restore trust with Russia

Turkey warned on Tuesday that it could take “dozens of years” to restore trust between the West and Russia following Moscow’s decision to invade Ukraine, Agence France-Presse reported.

“Of course, we are seeing the start of a new Cold War,” Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told a joint media appearance with his visiting Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto.

“It will take a long time to make up for it. It may take dozens of years to restore trust, but we believe that swift steps should be taken for a ceasefire.”

Turkey, which has enjoyed warm relations with both Russia and Ukraine, has been trying to mediate an end to the nearly two-month conflict.

As a NATO member, it has supplied Kyiv with combat drones but has shied away from joining Western sanctions against Moscow.

Turkey has hosted two rounds of talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in the past, blaming allegations of Russian atrocities in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha and a missile attack on a train station in Kramatorsk for a breakdown in the peace process.

“Despite the changing circumstances in the field, we believe there is still a chance for diplomacy to work,” Çavuşoğlu said.