Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday called on U.S. and Russian officials to «talk more» in order to avoid a «new world war» in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
He extended this request to the international community as a whole, which he urged to engage in «talks» to avoid the escalation of conflicts and recalled that both the United States and Russia have pledged not to use nuclear weapons.
«Let me tell you this: according to the information my intelligence chief has, neither Russia nor the United States have any intention of using this type of weaponry. We want them to talk more often,» he said, according to the Hurriyet daily.
«God forbid that they use nuclear weapons because this would lead to a new world war,» Erdogan said during a press conference on his return from Bali, where the G20 summit was held.
Erdogan referred to the meeting recently held in Ankara by the Russian and U.S. intelligence chiefs, who discussed recent developments in the war in Ukraine.
CIA Director William Burns and the head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Sergei Narishkin, met on November 14 in an unexpected contact which, according to the White House, did not involve «negotiations of any kind» on the part of the United States.
A spokesman for the US National Security Council explained to CNN that the meeting addressed the existing «risks», in particular on the possibility of a nuclear escalation in the framework of the invasion of Ukraine.
