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Türkiye is continuing with its efforts to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy together to launch diplomatic negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Monday.

Holding a press conference in Tokyo during a visit there to attend the funeral of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Çavuşoğlu said: “War has no winner. To end this war, it is more likely to return to the negotiating table once both sides realize this. There must be a just peace, especially for Ukraine. The occupied territories are the territory of Ukraine.”

“Leaders who want the war to continue also need to be persuaded. As Türkiye, we have not lost our hope, we will continue our efforts. Our president (Recep Tayyip Erdoğan) will continue his contacts with Putin and Zelenskyy. Our aim is to bring the two leaders together to ensure that decisions are made at the level of the leaders. The whole world pays the price of war.”

Türkiye has always expressed its commitment to Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and political unity since Crimea’s annexation in 2014, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Thursday.

Speaking to reporters at the Turkish House (Türkevi) center in New York, Erdoğan said the prisoner swap carried out by Russia and Ukraine, involving almost 300 people and mediated by Türkiye, was an important step toward ending the war.

Among those swapped, five senior Ukrainian commanders have arrived in Türkiye, where they will remain until the end of the war, with Zelenskyy hailing them as “superheroes.”

Erdoğan said that the exchange occurred as a result of the diplomatic traffic that he conducted with Zelenskyy and Putin.

“Türkiye has now received the result of its belief in the power of dialogue and diplomacy,” he said.

NATO member Türkiye has close ties with both Russia and Ukraine and has sought to balance relations through the war, rejecting Western sanctions on Moscow while also criticizing the Russian invasion and supplying Kyiv with armed drones.

“We will continue our efforts to achieve peace and stability in the future. For instance, as soon as we return, we will call the leaders again and continue our telephone diplomacy with them,” he added. He added that the U.N. should take the initiative and make more efforts to resolve the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Türkiye, the U.N., Russia and Ukraine signed an agreement in Istanbul on July 22 to restart grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which were paused after the Russia-Ukraine war began in February.

Ankara’s “only aim” is to end the bloodshed and establish peace since the Russia-Ukraine war began in February, Erdoğan said, adding: “We have always expressed our commitment to Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and political unity since the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Since the beginning of the Ukraine-Russia war, we have emphasized that the steps taken by Russia at this point are unfair and unacceptable.” Erdoğan said Türkiye is in favor of diplomacy to resolve crises and outstanding issues