Ankara urges quick and balanced end to war, respecting Ukraine's interests

“We do not want to prolong this war,” he stressed, adding that ”of course, Ukraine should not surrender for this.”

The end of the war should be pursued through peace talks and “the result should be balanced.”

No war lasts forever.

"In the context of making peace with this war, of course, there must also be respect for the legitimate interests of the Ukrainian people, and we must also understand that," Ozturk said.

On Sept. 11, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated Turkey's support for Crimea's return to Ukraine in a video address to the Crimea Platform participants.

After Russia's full-scale invasion began, Russia and Ukraine held a series of negotiations in Istanbul and Belarus, which were later switched to being conducted remotely.

The Kremlin put forward various ultimatums to Kyiv, in particular regarding "demilitarization" and "denazification," which Putin initially declared to be the goal of Russia's war against Ukraine.

This follows an earlier report by The New York Times on June 15 that a clause in the draft agreement between Kyiv and Moscow, giving Russia the right to veto the international response to a repeated attack on Ukraine, disrupted their peace talks in Istanbul weeks after the full-scale Russian invasion.