[ODUNEWS] September 16 – Russian President Vladimir Putin told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday during a meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s summit that he wanted to end the conflict in Ukraine “as soon as possible” .
“I know your position on the conflict in Ukraine, your concerns…. We will do our best to end this as soon as possible,” Putin was reported as telling Modi during the bilateral talks.
Putin is set to meet with Turkish President Erdogan bilaterally later on Friday. Erdogan has already urged Putin that he wanted the war in Ukraine to end “as soon as possible” through diplomacy.
Erdogan presses for war in Ukraine to end ‘as soon as possible’
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during one of the joint sessions on Friday
that he wanted the war in Ukraine to end “as soon as possible” while his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin was in attendance.
The Turkish president has been seeking to convince Putin of holding direct ceasefire talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Turkey.
Erdogan added that he was making diplomatic efforts to end the war at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s security summit.
“We are making efforts to finalize the conflict in Ukraine through diplomacy as soon as possible,” Erdogan said.
He voiced concerns that grain shipped out of Ukraine was not reaching enough developing countries, especially in Africa. Putin had expressed similar worries earlier on.
“We are making sincere efforts to deliver the grain to those who need it most, especially our brothers and sisters in Africa,” Erdogan said.
The Turkish president was set to hold bilateral talks with Putin on the sidelines of the Samarkand summit later on Friday. Turkey, which is a NATO member, has been delivering weapons and ammunition to Ukraine while trying to increase trade with Russia. For Erdogan, this resembles a “balanced” position that is necessary due to Turkey’s stark dependence on Russian energy supplies.
