President Vladimir Putin instructed Turkish chief Recep Tayyip Erdogan he was open to dialogue with Ukraine if Kyiv accepts territories occupied by Moscow as Russian, the Kremlin stated Thursday.

“Putin once more confirmed Russia’s openness to critical dialogue on the situation of Kyiv authorities fulfilling the well-known and repeatedly voiced necessities of taking into consideration the brand new territorial realities,” the Kremlin said in a statement.

Erdogan had called for peace talks in the phone call with Putin, his office said earlier.

Russian troops occupy large swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine.

The Kremlin claims it has annexed the Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions despite not controlling them in their entirety.

“The Russian side emphasised the destructive role of Western states, pumping the Kyiv regime with weapons and military equipment, providing it with operational information and targets,” the assertion added.

The leaders additionally mentioned the implementation of a landmark grain deal, brokered by the UN with the assistance of Turkey, to unblock Ukrainian grain.

The Kremlin stated the pair mentioned “the unblocking of meals and fertiliser provides from Russia” and the need for “the removal of all barriers to Russian exports.”

Russia briefly exited the deal in October after a drone assault on its Black Sea Fleet. It re-entered the deal inside days however officers have complained of restrictions on Russian merchandise.

Putin despatched troops to Ukraine in Febuary final 12 months.

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(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is printed from a syndicated information company feed)