The Kremlin said the leaders held a detailed discussion about the Russian initiative and Erdogan expressed full support, reiterating Turkey’s readiness to provide a venue and assist in organizing the negotiations.
Erdogan told Macron that international cooperation is critical for initiating peace negotiations and the "sensitive implementation" of Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction processes, the Turkish Presidency reported.
The assault began around 2 a.m. on May 11, with Russian forces deploying 108 Shahed-type attack drones and decoy UAVs from multiple directions, Ukraine’s Air Force said.
"Think of the hundreds of thousands of lives that will be saved as this never ending 'bloodbath' hopefully comes to an end... I will continue to work with both sides to make sure that it happens."
U.S. State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce called for "concrete proposals from both sides" in order for Washington to "move forward" in peace negotiations.
"If they speak to each other in Russian, he doesn't know what they are saying," one Western official told NBC News. Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, called Witkoff's approach "a very bad idea."
Nowegian defense minister Bjørn Arild Gram (L) meets with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on March 10, 2023. (Office of the President of Ukraine)
Norway will provide Ukraine with two firing units of the Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-air Missile System (NASAMS) to Ukraine over spring, according to a brief posted on the Norwegian governement website on March 10.
The delivery of the joint Norwegian-U.S.-designed system will double the two firing units provided by Washington over the autumn of last year.
The announcement came after a visit of Norwegian defense minister Bjørn Arild Gram to Kyiv on March 10, where he held talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky, Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, and other top officials.
“Norway has been supporting Ukraine since the first day of the full-scale war," Zelensky wrote on Telegram of the meeting, "and has done a lot for our soldiers to become stronger on the battlefield. We appreciate it.”
Since Russia began conducting mass missile strikes on Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructre in October, Ukraine has begun receiving modern Western-built air defense systems to help protect its airspace.
On Nov. 16, U.S. defense minister Lloyd Austin reported that the NASAMS systems already provided to Kyiv have had a "100% success rate" in shooting down Russian missiles.
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