Erdogan: Türkiye can play facilitating role on Ukraine nuclear plant

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that, as in the Istanbul grain agreement, Türkiye could play a facilitating role on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine as well.

In a phone call on Saturday, Erdogan and Putin also exchanged views on bilateral relations and regional issues, particularly grain exports, Türkiye's Communications Directorate said in a statement.

Erdogan and Putin agreed to discuss all bilateral issues at a meeting in Uzbekistan on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit on September 15-16.

The leaders also reiterated their determination to proceed with the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, currently under construction in the province of Mersin in southern Türkiye, according to the statement.

Akkuyu's first reactor is set to be operational by 2023, with the entire plant to be up and running by 2025. The project began with a 2010 intergovernmental agreement between Türkiye and Russia.

Erdogan also expressed his condolences to Putin on the death of the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev.

Ankara, Moscow, Kiev and the UN signed an agreement in Istanbul on July 22 to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which had paused after the Russia-Ukraine conflict erupted on February 24.

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