Zelensky and Putin may hold personal meeting in Turkey

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, during a telephone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, expressed his readiness to meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Istanbul or Ankara, a spokesperson for the Turkish President, Ibrahim Kalyn said, RIA Novosti reports.

According to Kalyn, Erdogan has already reported Zelensky's suggestion to Putin.

"We will continue our work in this direction. Such a meeting will certainly have a positive impact on the situation. Turkey is ready to make its contribution,” Kalyn said.

"Turkey is currently one of the few countries that can talk to both Russia and Ukraine at the same time. I repeat the words that our President earlier said — we cannot abandon either Russia or Ukraine. Therefore, we are focusing on what steps we can take to bring the parties to the negotiating table, but especially to convince the Russian side here,” Kalyn said.

Earlier, Erdogan's spokesman said that Turkey did not have any plans to impose sanctions against Russia, nor did Ankara want to take sides in the Ukrainian conflict. According to Kalyn, Turkey does not want the crisis in Ukraine to affect the Turkish economy.

Kalyn revealed the date of the possible talks between Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart. According to him, telephone conversations between the two presidents were scheduled for March 6. Turkey urges Russia to stop the military operation immediately and sit down at the table of negotiations to resolve the crisis.