Erdogan, Putin discuss swap of Russian, U.S. prisoners in Ankara -Turkish presidency

ANKARA – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the swap of Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko and U.S. ex-Marine Trevor Reed in Ankara during a phone call on Thursday, the Turkish presidency said.

Russia and the United States carried out the swap in Ankara on Wednesday amid the most tense bilateral relations in decades over the war in Ukraine.

In the call, Putin thanked Turkey’s MIT intelligence agency for its cooperation and supervision of the swap, the presidency said in a statement, adding Erdogan told his Russian counterpart the swap was an indication of the value Turkey placed on peace, and its mediation efforts between Moscow and Kyiv.

Erdogan also repeated that Ankara wanted to continue the momentum achieved in Ukraine-Russia talks in Istanbul earlier this month, his office said.