Erdoğan tells Trump he supports his efforts to end war in Ukraine

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told US counterpart Donald Trump in a call on Sunday that he supported his “direct and decisive” initiatives to end the three-year war in Ukraine, Agence France-Presse reported, citing his office.

NATO member Turkey has sought to maintain good relations with both of its Black Sea neighbors since the Russian invasion three years ago and has twice hosted direct talks aimed at ending the war.

In his phone call with Trump on Sunday, Erdoğan said he “supports the determined and decisive efforts by American President Trump to put an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine,” adding that Turkey has supported “a just and durable peace since the start of the war and will continue to do so,” according to a statement from the Turkish presidency.

The US proposed a ceasefire in the Ukraine war last week, with Kyiv accepting and Moscow raising “serious questions” over the proposition.

In the call Erdoğan also told Trump of the need to “finalize” a deal under which Turkey would buy US F-16 fighter jets and to work on Turkey participating in the development program for F-35 warplanes, the statement said.

The US imposed a series of sanctions on Turkey’s defense industry in December 2020, after the NATO member acquired the Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system.