Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that he offered Vladimir Putin to hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi in Turkey.

“Despite the difficulties, I also maintain a firm belief that this crisis will be resolved at the negotiating table,” Erdogan said, referring to the war started by Russia in Ukraine, Kyiv Independent reported with reference to Turkish media.

After the meeting with Putin in Sochi, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan answered questions from journalists and gave assessments on the plane after returning from Turkey.

It will be recalled that the export of Ukrainian grain to the Black Sea ports was recently resumed on the basis of the agreement signed in Istanbul between Ukraine, Turkey, Russia and the UN. Ankara tried to use this “diplomatic success” after the meeting in Tehran. The talks in Sochi are the second round of meetings between the two officials in less than three weeks.

Zelenskyi has repeatedly rejected any negotiations with Russia.

At the same time, the Turkish president confirmed that Russian gas supplies to Turkey will be paid for in rubles, Turkish media reported on Saturday.

“A positive aspect of our visit to Sochi is our agreement with Mr. Putin regarding the ruble. God willing, our ruble exchanges will bring benefits to Turkey and Russia,” the Turkish head of state told reporters aboard his flight from Sochi (Russia), on the Black Sea coast, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.