Putin explained to Erdogan that the suspension of the Russian military operation in Ukraine is possible only if Kiev stops fighting

The suspension of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine is possible only if Kyiv stops fighting. This was announced today by Russian President Vladimir Putin during a telephone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“The suspension of the special operation is possible only if Kiev ceases hostilities and fulfills the well-known demands of Russia,” Putin said, quoted by the Kremlin press service.

The Russian leader briefed his Turkish counterpart on the course of the special military operation to protect Donbass, outlined the fundamental approaches and assessments in this context, and explained in detail the main goals and objectives set.

At the same time, Putin confirmed “the readiness of the Russian side for a dialogue with the Ukrainian authorities and with foreign partners in order to resolve the conflict,” but drew attention to the “future of any attempts to drag out the negotiation process, which is used by the Ukrainian security forces to regroup their forces and means.”

For his part, Erdogan called for an urgent general ceasefire in Ukraine, and also pointed out the importance of urgent steps to open humanitarian corridors and sign a peace agreement, Anadolu reports.

Moreover, he assured that Turkey is ready to make a feasible contribution to the peaceful solution of the Ukrainian problem in the shortest possible time.

Recall that on February 21, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees recognizing the independence of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), and on February 24 he made an emergency appeal to the Russians and announced a special military operation in Donbass. In his speech, he stated that “circumstances require decisive action from Russia” and stressed that “Russia will not allow Ukraine to have nuclear weapons.”

In response to Russia’s actions, Western countries (USA, Canada, European Union, Great Britain, Japan) announced new, tougher sanctions against the Russian Federation, including financial and economic ones.

In particular, Russian banks fell under the sanctions, including Sberbank, VTB, Novikombank, FC Otkritie and Sovcombank, and for a number of state-owned companies it was difficult to attract foreign capital.

Later, the EU countries and the United States agreed to disconnect Russian banks that fell under sanctions from the international system of interbank transactions and information exchange SWIFT. In addition, it was decided to freeze the assets of the Bank of Russia, which will create difficulties for its use of international reserves. EU countries also pledged to take steps to limit the sale of citizenship — the so-called “golden passports” that allow wealthy Russians connected to the Russian government to become citizens of EU states and gain access to their financial systems.

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