Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated Ankara's commitment to negotiate peace between Russia and Ukraine, calling his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, for a meeting between him and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Istanbul. 

Erdogan told Putin that continuing the positive talks reached in recent months in Istanbul towards peace between Russia and Ukraine would bring benefits to all parties. During the conversation, Erdogan stressed the importance of securing a ceasefire, the functioning of humanitarian corridors and the safe conduct of evacuations. 

He also reiterated Turkey's readiness to "set up the Istanbul process" and to host a meeting of Ukrainian and Russian leaders, which he called "an important threshold for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine". 

Talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul on March 29 were seen as a breakthrough in efforts to stem hostilities that began on February 24.