Russia’s demands for talks and ending its invasion of Ukraine are "unrealistic," Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın said on Tuesday.
"They will most likely not meet (on Wednesday)," Kalın told broadcaster CNN Turk. "It will most likely be postponed by a couple of days; we are in touch with the negotiating teams," he said, adding he hoped Russian President Vladimir Putin would end the assault by realizing the economic damage it causes to Russia.
He also said that Turkey is not planning any sanctions on Russia at this point. “We do not want our economy to be affected negatively by this, we have strong economic ties like many others. We have energy ties, tourism, agriculture and other sectors.”
As the seventh day of the war dawned Wednesday, Russia found itself increasingly isolated, beset by the sanctions that have thrown its economy into turmoil and left the country practically friendless, apart from a few nations like China, Belarus and North Korea.
Kalın underlined that Turkey wants to keep its lines of communication open with Russia.
Turkey has found itself in a balancing act between Russia and Ukraine, given the friendly ties and the Black Sea maritime boundaries it shares with both parties.
The country is navigating its own narrow passage, diplomatically, between its ally Ukraine, to which it has sold combat drones used against Russian tanks, and Russia, on which it depends for its gas and grain supplies.
Ankara has offered to mediate the crisis and had earlier warned Russia not to invade Ukraine. Ankara has been closely following the developments and is in close contact with both Kyiv and Moscow. While forging cooperation on defense and energy, Turkey has opposed Moscow’s policies in Syria and Libya, as well as its annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.
