Türkiye’s Erdogan offers to mediate in Ukraine nuclear plant stand-off
- President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Vladimir Putin that Türkiye can play facilitator role in Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant issue
- There was no immediate mention of Erdogan having also spoken to Ukraine’s President Zelensky on Saturday to offer his mediation
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered on Saturday to mediate in the stand-off over a Russian-occupied nuclear power station in war-torn Ukraine that has raised fears of an atomic disaster.
Alarm has grown in recent weeks over shelling hitting the area of Europe’s largest nuclear plant, Zaporizhzhia.
Ukraine on Friday said it bombed a Russian base in the nearby town of Energodar, destroying three artillery systems as well as an ammunition depot.
Erdogan on Saturday told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin “that Türkiye can play a facilitator role in the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, as they did in the grain deal”, the Turkish presidency said.
Ukraine, one of the world’s largest grain exporters, was forced to halt almost all deliveries after Russia invaded in late February, raising fears of a global food crisis.