Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday congratulated Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on his re-election and offered to mediate between Moscow and Ukraine, the Turkish presidency announced.
In a telephone conversation, "President Erdogan expressed his belief that the positive evolution of relations between Turkey and Russia were continuing and stated that Turkey was ready to play a facilitator role to return to the negotiating table with Ukraine," the Turkish presidency said in a statement.
It is not the first time that Erdogan has offered his services as a mediator in the war as he seeks to maintain friendly relations with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
All three countries have a coastline on the Black Sea, whose access Turkey controls through the Turkish Straits.
Erdogan welcomed Zelensky to Istanbul at the beginning of this month while Putin was due to visit Turkey in February before he called off the trip.
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