Russia said on Wednesday that it dismisses Turkey’s mediation proposal to alleviate the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that the offer did not refer to the conflict in Donbass between Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatists and that Putin and Erdoğan could discuss Turkey‘s proposal to mediate conflict in the area.

She also commented on the Ukraine-Russia conflict, saying that Ukraine has moved half of its army or 125,000 troops into the conflict zone in Eastern Ukraine to confront with pro-Russian separatists.

Ukraine President Volodimir Zelenski, for his part, said that they are beginning to build a military plant for the production of modern drones, stressing that they cannot stop the war without direct talks with Russia.

He also added that he is going to be submitting a bill on dual citizenship for the Ukrainian diaspora.