Erdoğan to discuss NATO bid with Swedish PM in Türkiye

Russia's Vladimir Putin is now more open to possible peace talks to end the Russian-Ukrainian war, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said noting that he would seek grounds for such an initiative by the phone conversations planned with the leaders of the two warring sides.

"Regarding this issue, I saw that Mr. Putin is now much softer and more open to negotiations than in the past. We will see by listening to both leaders how far these can lead with the telephone diplomacy we will have in the coming days," Erdoğan told journalists on Oct. 20 on his flight from Azerbaijan to Türkiye.

Recalling his last phone conversation with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, Erdoğan said he observed that the Ukrainian leader was not rejecting such peace talks.

"I felt that he was also in favor of overcoming this issue. We are not hopeless. We hope that we will continue on the road to peace by bringing the two leaders together. Because both sides have serious losses," Erdoğan stated.

Elaborating on Europe's dispute with Russia on the supply of natural gas, Erdoğan said Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline Project (TANAP) could be an alternative for additional gas supply and Azeri President Ilham Aliyev was positive on the issue.

"As of now, of course, they [Europe] cannot obtain natural gas from Russia whenever they want. What are their expectations? If Türkiye becomes the hub of this business, will such natural gas demands from Türkiye be met or not?" he said.

"Likewise, will there be a supply in the natural gas demand from Azerbaijan, namely TANAP, at this point? I see that my brother Ilham Aliyev has a positive opinion on this issue as well. We will evaluate this and evaluate the developing process accordingly, and take our steps...