Putin, Erdogan discuss humanitarian corridors in Ukraine: Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday discussed Moscow’s efforts to ensure the safety of civilians during its military operation in Ukraine, the Kremlin said.

According to a Kremlin statement, the leaders in a phone call talked about “efforts made by Russia on a constant basis to ensure the safety of peaceful civilians, including the organisation of humanitarian corridors”.

This came as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during a visit to Russia Tuesday urged Moscow and Kyiv to work together to set up aid and evacuation corridors.

The Kremlin said Erdogan asked Putin about the besieged southeastern port city of Mariupol.

The Russian leader told him that “the city is liberated and combat operations are not going on there”.

Russia and Ukraine on Monday failed to agree on the opening of humanitarian corridor from the city’s huge Azovstal industrial area, where hundreds of civilians are reportedly sheltering and Ukrainian troops are still resisting.

Putin said Kyiv should “take political responsibility and for humanitarian reasons, order them (troops) to lay down arms”.

The leaders also discussed coordination between their defence ministries on ensuring of safety of Turkish ships sailing from Black Sea ports, as well as developing tourism and air links, the Kremlin said.