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."
A vessel is seen in the port of Odesa upon arriving under the Black Sea Grain Initiative on April 12, 2023. (Yulii Zozulia/Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
After a successful evacuation of a vessel along a new corridor on the western Black Sea coast, Ukraine is hoping to use the corridor to export grain, Denys Marchuk, deputy head of the Agrarian Council, said on national television, Reuters reported on Aug. 21.
"Only one commercial vessel has passed through so far, (and this) has shown readiness to move by alternative routes," Marchuk said.
Ukraine's Naval Forces announced on Aug. 10 new temporary routes for civilian vessels moving to or from Black Sea ports after Russia unilaterally pulled out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative and effectively declared a blockade in the sea.
The corridor was initially planned to enable the exit of civilian ships stuck in the Ukrainian ports of Chornomorsk, Odesa, and Pivdenny since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion.
The container ship Joseph Schulte sailing under the Hong Kong flag left Odesa's port on Aug. 16, where it had been docked since Feb. 23, 2022, being the first to travel through the temporary corridor.
"Further, there should be a movement of potentially seven-eight more ships... then perhaps in the future these alternative routes will become a corridor for the movement of ships that are traveling with cargoes of grain and oilseeds," Marchuk said.
While Ukraine is looking to attract ship owners to Ukrainian ports with a ship insurance scheme to protect against potential losses as a result of Russian attacks, Mykola Gorbachov, head of Ukrainian grain traders union UGA, said he doubted that ship owners were prepared to send their ships through the corridors, Reuters reported.
Anastasiia Lapatina
