Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his ongoing readiness to mediate between Russia and Ukraine to achieve a "fair" peace between the two countries, as stated in comments made today during his return from a visit to Egypt. Erdogan said, "We have brought the two parties together in Turkey on multiple occasions. We can do that again and open the door to peace through managing a process focused on solutions and free from external influences." He affirmed that they are "continuing our efforts in this endeavor during our meetings with both President (Russian Vladimir) Putin and President (Ukrainian Volodymyr) Zelensky."
Turkish media quoted Erdogan today as saying that "understanding is increasing between Turkey and the United States on a greater number of issues," noting that "relations are moving in a positive direction as we proceed with the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey." Erdogan told reporters on the plane during his return trip from Cairo yesterday, "The number of issues we are thinking about similarly or in agreement with the United States is increasing." Turkish media also reported Erdogan's response to a question regarding Turkey's approval of Sweden's request to join NATO and the subsequent progress regarding the purchase of American aircraft: "There is no negative trend at the moment; on the contrary, there is positive development."