The Turkish President’s approach to try to orchestrate a deal has been to try to seal specific agreements to lay the groundwork for a broader truce, such as the accord signed in Istanbul in July to resume Ukrainian grain exports, as well as the largest prisoner exchange of the war.
Erdogan, whose country is a NATO member but also counts Moscow as a strategic partner, has sought to expand Turkey’s influence on the global stage.
After his most recent encounter with Putin at a summit last month in Uzbekistan, Erdgoan said he thought the Russian President was eager to sign a truce. Of course, since then Putin has actually escalated the war with a mass mobilization and this week’s missile attacks against Ukrainian cities.
As for the specific terms of any eventual final accord, Erdogan was asked by U.S. public television network PBS if Russia should be allowed to keep any territory conquered since February’s invasion, and whether that should be part of a peace deal; Erdogan replied: "No, and undoubtedly no." It’s not clear whether he also included territory held by Russian-backed separatists since 2014, or the Crimean peninsula, both of which Kyiv has insisted be returned to Ukraine.