Turkiye works on 'peace corridor' between Ukraine, Russia: Erdogan

ANKARA - Turkiye is trying to open a peace dialogue between Russia and Ukraine although the West, particularly the United States, provokes Moscow, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday.

"The West, especially the US, is attacking Russia almost without limits. Against all this, of course, Russia is putting up resistance," the semi-official Anadolu Agency quoted Erdogan as saying.

Ankara has been working on the establishment of "a peace corridor" in the same way that it had made it possible for the grain corridor from Ukraine to resume, Erdogan told reporters onboard a flight from Uzbekistan to Turkiye.

"We think the best way to achieve peace is through a path of dialogue. But for now, the most important thing for us is to operate the grain corridor seriously," Erdogan said. The Turkish president said it would be wrong to put a time limit on the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which allows the export of Ukrainian grain and other agricultural products from Black Sea ports.

"We told Russia and Ukraine that the longer they keep this deal, the more accurate it will be," he said. Brokered by the United Nations and Turkiye, the Black Sea Grain initiative was reached in late July to establish a maritime humanitarian corridor in the Black Sea for grain and agricultural products exports amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict.