Zelenskyy and Erdogan discuss return of prisoners, support for grain corridor and Ukrainian defense
Kyiv • UNN
Zelenskyy and Erdogan discussed defense cooperation, Black Sea security, and strengthening global food security through Ukraine's maritime export corridor. They also focused on the Peace Formula and the return of Ukrainian prisoners.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a telephone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. UNN reports on what the politicians discussed, citing the Ukrainian head of state's telegram.
As always, we are using every day of this week to intensify our international work so that this year will start to yield results from the very first weeks. I thanked President Erdogan for the level of our cooperation in many areas, including defense. We have joint projects that have already been successful, and this year we must do even more to strengthen our states and our peoples.
Details
Zelenskyy noted that security in the Black Sea and global food security largely depend on Ukrainian-Turkish cooperation.
He thanked President Erdogan personally and the whole of Turkey for supporting the maritime export corridor from Ukraine.
As of today, more than 14 million tons of cargo have already been transported through the corridor since the start of its operation, which is almost half a thousand vessels. This is a very important result, both in terms of economy, security and geopolitics. We are demonstrating that we can restore security to our region despite all the existing threats. We see how the strength of our partnership adds strength to our entire region.
The Ukrainian President also discussed the work on the Peace Formula with his Turkish counterpart. Zelenskyy invited the Turkish representative to a meeting at the level of advisors to be held in Davos in January. Erdogan gave his consent
Zelenskyy also reminded that a separate point of the Peace Formula is the return of all prisoners and deportees. He expressed hope that Turkey would facilitate this process.
Return of Ukrainian children abducted by the Russians. The return of prisoners and all those who are subject to repression in the occupied territory, including Crimea. Turkey's mediation is very important so that the Crimean Tatars and all others - adults and children, soldiers and civilians - who are held in Russian captivity can be released.
