Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Presidential Pavilion in Istanbul, Turkey on Nov. 19, 2018. (Turkish Presidency)
ANKARA, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed separately the recent tension in Kerch Strait with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts on Wednesday, state-run Anadolu News Agency reported.
In separate phone calls with Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko, Erdogan expressed his concern and called on the two sides to resolve the confrontation via diplomacy.
In a previous address made to his ruling party on Tuesday, the Turkish leader said he would like to see Russia and Ukraine solve their problems through dialogue as soon as possible and make the Black Sea "a sea of peace."
The Ukraine-Russia ties, which has been strained over Crimea and Eastern Ukraine in recent years, saw an abrupt escalation this week.
The Ukrainian navy said Sunday that Russian forces fired on and seized three Ukrainian ships near the Kerch Strait, calling Russia's actions an "act of aggression."
Moscow says the three ships breached the Russian border and conducted dangerous maneuvers in spite of orders of accompanying vessels from the FSB and Russia's Black Sea Fleet.