The Turkish foreign minister said that he had spoken to his Russian counterpart on Tuesday about the importance of avoiding actions in 'the Black Sea' that threatened regional security and Turkey's interests. He also reiterated Turkey's offer as a mediator between Kyiv & Moscow.

In recent months, Ukraine has accused Russia of drone attacks near Turkey's north coast. One attack was on a vessel owned by Turkey. Ankara protested the attacks to Kyiv as well as?Moscow.

Hakan Fidan, the Turkish Foreign Minister who attended a joint press conference with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the Russian Embassy in Moscow said that the priority of Turkey was for both sides to resume direct talks and end the conflict as quickly as possible.

"I expressed our willingness to host the next round of talks again. He said that if the parties agree, he was ready to discuss ways in which the negotiations could be?continued' in a way that is more result-oriented.

Fidan added that he and Lavrov had discussed ways to ensure navigational security in the area.

He added that Turkey is also against any attacks on civilians or civilian infrastructure.

Kyiv requested Ankara to mediate in April by hosting a 'leaders' level meeting. Since the full-scale Russian invasion of 2022, Turkey has maintained friendly relations with Moscow and Kyiv. (Reporting Tuvan Gumrukcu, Huseyin Haatsever and Editing Ros Russell)

(source: Reuters)