Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday expressed his gratitude to Turkey for its peace efforts in Ukraine.
While speaking at a news conference in the Kazakh capital Astana Putin stated that Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan “played a significant role” in organizing a prisoner swap between Moscow and Kyiv, as well as in the agreement of the Ukraine grain deal.
Putin also praised Turkey for its role in mediating peace, noting that the UAE had also offered assistance and collaborated to reconcile the two rival states.
While talking about the situation in Ukraine Putin stated, “What is happening today is unpleasant, to put it mildly, but we would have received all the same in worse conditions later. So, we’re doing everything right.”
The Russian president also mentioned that the partial military mobilization he announced on September 21 would be done in two weeks and that no extra mobilization steps would be implemented.
While talking about ties between Russia and Central Asian countries he reassured that the war in Ukraine had not affected the nature, quality, or depth of relations with Central Asian countries in any way.
When asked about his plan to attend the upcoming G20 summit and meet US President Joe Biden there, Putin stated that he had yet to make a decision.
Regarding conflicts between post-soviet states, Putin stated “It is not easy to find common ground in the hot phase, but we managed to agree that all measures will be taken to prevent the resumption of the conflict”.
