Erdogan says he will urge Putin to take steps on Donbas, Crimea with Zelenskiy

ANKARA - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday he will tell his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in a phone call later that he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy need to take a step to address issues over Ukraine's Donbas region and Crimea.

Speaking to reporters in Istanbul, Erdogan said he will hold the phone call with Putin at 1300 GMT and renew an offer to host the Russian and Ukrainian leaders for peace talks, which he said Zelenskiy was warm towards after their call on Thursday.

Earlier, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said his country would be grateful to Turkey if it could help organise a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders.