President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tried to prevent the war in Ukrane before it started, Turkish National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said at a joint press conference with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
The minister then recalled that the Turkish leader spoke with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin the day before the war and said: “Our head of state will continue his efforts. If there is such an opportunity, our President will meet with both his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts. He will be happy about it.”