Ukrainian President Volodymy Zelensky, Turkey’s counterpart discuss Mariupol issues

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday said that he had talked with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the eve of the Turkish president’s talks with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.

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Zelensky said he and Erdogan discussed the need for the immediate evacuation of civilians from the mostly Russian-occupied port city of Mariupol, including the surrounded but Ukrainian-held Azovstal factory, and the exchange of Ukrainian troops holed up at the plant.

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On Sunday, The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said that Russia has deployed Iskander-M mobile battlefield missile launchers within 60 km (40 miles) of the Ukrainian border.

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In its daily morning update, the Ukrainian Armed Forces said, “The enemy has increased the number of troops in the Belgorod region by transferring and concentrating additional units.”

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“According to available information, Iskander-M launchers have been deployed 60 km from the border with Ukraine,” it said, without providing more detail on the location of the systems.

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Reuters reported that it could not immediately verify the reports. There was no immediate reaction from Moscow to the reports.

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Belgorod is a city and the administrative centre of Russia’s Belgorod region, north of the border with Ukraine.