Media: Turkey ready to push for local ceasefires in Ukraine

Turkey is ”willing to push for local ceasefires and small localized de-escalations,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Jan. 14, as quoted by Hurriyet Daily News.

“Neither party is in a position to win the war militarily, on the ground,” he said.

On Jan. 8, Kalin told CNN that Turkey is working to establish a long-term ceasefire in Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.

Kalin said that neither Ukraine nor Russia can achieve a decisive victory on the battlefield. As a result, Turkey will continue to work on ensuring an extended ceasefire, especially at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, “which remains a major security threat for everyone.”

Asked why Turkey called for a unilateral ceasefire, Kalin said that “it’s the Russian bombardment that is making this war continue.”

Erdogan has already urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to back calls for peace talks through a unilateral ceasefire and a “vision for a fair solution” to Russia’s war, according to a statement from the Turkish president’s office on Jan. 5.

Russia claimed it would have a unilateral ceasefire on Jan. 6 and Jan. 7, only to violate it by continuing fighting on the frontline and striking Kherson on Jan. 6.

At least six civilians were killed, and four got injured, according to the Kherson Regional Administration.

Among the victims was a family living in Beryslav, a small city on the shore of the Dnipro River 76 kilometers northeast of Kherson.

A 12-year-old boy and his parents were killed by a Russian shell that hit their house.