Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said was standing by to broker a “permanent peace” between Ukraine and Moscow in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday.
“During the call, President Erdogan reiterated that Turkey is ready to undertake the task of facilitating and mediating for the establishment of a lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine,” his office said in a statement.
The Turkish leader has made similar offers in the past and has facilitated meetings between Ukrainian and Russian officials but no peace talks to date.
The pair discussed prisoner exchanges, particularly of wounded prisoners, and “the exchange of views on the situation around Ukraine continued,” the Kremlin said.
Russian state media said the phone call with Mr Erdogan focused on the prisoner exchange but also touched on what reports described as the West’s rejection of Moscow’s proposed Christmas ceasefire.
Mr Erdogan’s office said they also discussed the grain corridor to allow Ukraine and Russia to ship vital supplies of wheat and other crops through the Bosporus to international markets.
It added that the two men also talked about ammonium exports.
Mr Putin and Mr Erdogan confirmed their co-operation and stated their priorities still include Russian gas supplies and the creation of a regional gas hub in Turkey.
Kyiv has rejected the idea of halting fighting while Russian troops still occupy territory but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he’s open to “genuine peace talks” with Russia that included Moscow withdrawing forces, compensating Ukraine for damage and co-operating in war crimes investigations.
Mr Putin ordered a 36-hour ceasefire before Orthodox Christmas on January 7 but the move was rebuffed by Kyiv, which said there could be no truce until Russia withdraws its troops from occupied lands.
Ukraine’s allies also expressed concern, with US State Department spokesman Ned Price saying: “Our concern … is that the Russians would seek to use any temporary pause in fighting to rest, to refit, to regroup, and ultimately to reattack.”
The pair also discussed Turkey’s normalisation of diplomatic relations with Syria, a key Russian ally, over a decade after Ankara cut ties and backed armed groups trying to overthrow the regime in Damascus.
Super 30
Produced: Sajid Nadiadwala and Phantom Productions
Directed: Vikas Bahl
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Pankaj Tripathi, Aditya Srivastav, Mrinal Thakur
Rating: 3.5 /5
AIDA%20RETURNS
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Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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The%20specs
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GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
SPECS
Mini John Cooper Works Clubman and Mini John Cooper Works Countryman
Engine: two-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Transmission: nine-speed automatic
Power: 306hp
Torque: 450Nm
Price: JCW Clubman, Dh220,500; JCW Countryman, Dh225,500
If you go
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Seattle from Dh5,555 return, including taxes.
The car
Hertz offers compact car rental from about $300 (Dh1,100) per week, including taxes. Emirates Skywards members can earn points on their car hire through Hertz.
The national park
Entry to Mount Rainier National Park costs $30 for one vehicle and passengers for up to seven days. Accommodation can be booked through mtrainierguestservices.com. Prices vary according to season. Rooms at the Holiday Inn Yakima cost from $125 per night, excluding breakfast.
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Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
Fire and Fury
By Michael Wolff,
Henry Holt
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
