Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he will discuss the situation surrounding the nuclear power plant in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya region with Russian President Vladimir Putin after he also spoke to Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky.
The Ukrainian nuclear power plant has been in Russian hands since March. Both warring sides accuse each other of shelling the complex and preparing “provocations.”
Erdogan spoke to reporters during his flight back to Turkey. The Turkish president was in the Ukrainian city of Lviv on Thursday for a meeting with Zelensky and UN chief António Guterres.
According to Erdogan, during their meeting, Zelensky demanded, among other things, that Russia remove all mines in the area where the nuclear power plant is located. “We will discuss the matter with Putin and ask him to do what is necessary specifically for Russia to take an important step towards world peace,” he said.
Erdogan also denied to reporters that he is planning a military incursion into northern Syria to attack a Kurdish militia there. Turkey already occupies tracts of land along the border north of Syria and recently announced a new offensive against the “terrorist” threat from the Syrian-Kurdish YPG militia.
“We have no visibility into Syria’s territory. The Damascus regime should be aware of that,” he said. However, he also said he would not rule out dialogue and diplomacy with Syria.
