Ankara welcomes progress on humanitarian corridors, Turkiye tells Ukraine

By Merve Aydogan

ANKARA (AA) - Turkiye's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Thursday spoke over the phone with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba and discussed the latest situation in Ukraine, diplomatic sources said.

Cavusoglu, according to the sources, told Kuleba that Turkiye welcomed the announcement that Russia and Ukraine reached an understanding to create humanitarian corridors for evacuation of civilians.

Noting that the corridors will not only allow evacuation of Turkish citizens, the minister said it will also facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to these regions.

On late Thursday, Russia and Ukraine announced they reached an understanding to create humanitarian corridors for evacuation of civilians and for food and medicine deliveries.

Ukraine's lead negotiator Mikhail Podolyak said at a news conference following the second round of negotiations in the Belarusian region of Brest that there is "a possibility of a temporary cease-fire for a period of evacuation in regions where it takes place."

Russia's war on Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24, has met international outrage with the EU, US and UK, among others, implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.

According to UN figures, 227 civilians have been killed and 525 injured in Ukraine since the start of the war. Ukrainian authorities, however, put the death toll at over 2,000.

More than 1 million people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries, the UN Refugee Agency said.