Ukraine's president thanks Turkiye for its readiness to become guarantor country

By Dmitri Chirciu

KYIV, Ukraine (AA) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Turkiye on Friday for its readiness to be a guarantor of his country's security.

Ukraine wants Turkiye, Germany and the members of the UN Security Council to act as guarantors in any potential peace deal, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Thursday.

Zelenskyy said he spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by phone and discussed the peace talks that took place Tuesday in Istanbul between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations.

He made the statements on Telegram on the 36th day of the war.

"We endured longer than the enemy thought. They thought it would only take three to five days to capture our country," he added.

The latest talks in Istanbul were seen as a breakthrough in the push to halt hostilities that, according to the latest UN figures, have claimed the lives of at least 1,232 civilians and left 1,935 others injured.

More than 4 million Ukrainians have also fled to other countries, with millions more internally displaced, according to the UN refugee agency.