Turkey can help in Russia-Ukraine 'observation mechanism', Erdogan tells Putin

ISTANBUL

: Turkish President Tayyip

Erdogan

told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday that Ankara is ready to take on a role in an "observation mechanism" between Moscow, Kyiv and the United Nations, if an agreement is reached in that regard.

In a phone call, Erdogan told Putin that peace needs to be established as soon as possible and confidence-building steps need to be taken on the conflict in Ukraine, the president's office said in a readout.

There was no reference to food in the readout. But last week a senior Turkish official told Reuters that

Turkey

is negotiating with Russia and Ukraine about opening a sea corridor for grain exports from Ukraine.