Tuesday 20 September 2022 03:26 PM Putin wants to end the war 'as soon as possible' says Turkey's Erdogan trends now
Vladimir Putin wants to end the 'problematic' war in Ukraine 'as soon as possible', Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has claimed.
The Turkish leader made the stunning declaration last night to US outlet PBS after sharing 'extensive discussions' with his warmongering Russian counterpart at a summit in Uzbekistan last week.
'He is actually showing me that he's willing to end this as soon as possible,' Mr Erdogan said.
'That was my impression, because the way things are going right now are quite problematic.'
The Turk's comments were made less than 24 hours before the United Nations' massive annual summit kicked off this morning in New York, where the war in Ukraine will be an 'unavoidable' topic at the top of the agenda, chief EU diplomat Josep Borrell said.
It comes as highly influential Russian nationalist Igor Girkin declared that further economic struggles or military losses brought about by the ongoing conflict in Ukraine could spell the end of Putin's regime.
The former FSB officer, a chief architect in the 2014 annexation of Crimea and pro-Russian rebellion in the Donbas, said: 'All it will take is an outbreak of inflation or a few more military defeats to finish him off.'
Vladimir Putin (right) wants to end the war in Ukraine 'as soon as possible', Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan (left) has claimed (both pictured in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Sept. 16
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attend a meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan September 16, 2022
Igor 'Strelkov' Girkin, a former FSB officer and hardliner Russian nationalist, warned Putin could see his grip on power slip with further defeats in Ukraine
Erdogan also said yesterday that Russia should not be allowed to maintain any Ukrainian territory it had claimed amid the war, up to and including Crimea.
'If a peace is going to be established in Ukraine, of course, the returning of the land that was invaded will become really important. This is what is expected,' Erdogan affirmed in a blatant disapproval of Putin's recent military exploits.
Russian positions in Ukraine were fundamentally weakened roughly 10 days ago when a lightning Ukrainian counteroffensive broke a months-long stalemate in the northeastern Kharkiv region.
Ukrainian forces have since gone on to recoup thousands of square miles of territory and
