The first item is from the Russian government’s TASS news agency; the second is from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Trial balloon or not, such a prospect would be entirely in keeping with the Kremlin’s abject subservience to Ankara as recently witnessed in Syria, Libya, Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia.

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No comment on reports Erdogan allegedly handed to Russia Kiev’s exchange list – Kremlin

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov has left without comment the rumors Ukraine had allegedly handed over to Russia via Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a list of held persons to be exchanged.

“I will leave this report without a comment,” Peskov said.

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Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said on Friday that Kiev had handed to Moscow via the Turkish leader a list of 450 Ukrainian citizens, allegedly kept in custody in Donbass and Russia, and was now waiting for Moscow’s reply.

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Erdogan reportedly told Turkish correspondents during a flight back home from Turkmenistan that Turkey counted on a role in settling the crisis between Russia and Ukraine and was going to continue discussions of this issue with Moscow and Kiev.

“We are for peace in the region, in the first place, when it comes to Crimea’s Turks. We have repeatedly discussed these questions with friendly Russia and with Mr. Putin. We wish to see this region stop being a war-ravaged territory…,” he is quoted by the daily Yeni Safak as saying.

Asked if such a summit was a theoretical possibility, Peskov said: “The point is Russia is not a party to the Donbass conflict….”

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Turkey Offers To Mediate Between Ukraine, Russia

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country is ready to act as a mediator between Ukraine and Russia, even with strained relations between Ankara and Moscow over the sale of armed drones to Kyiv earlier this year.

Speaking to reporters on a flight from Turkmenistan, Erdogan was quoted on November 29 by broadcaster NTV as saying that Ankara wanted stability and peace in the Black Sea region, adding that he had had frequent discussions about the issue with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

“Whether it is as a mediator or speaking to them about the issue, by holding these talks with Ukraine and Mr. Putin, God willing, we want to play a part in the solution of this,” he said.

NATO-member Turkey has good ties with both Kyiv and Moscow, but it has criticized Moscow’s seizure of Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula in March 2014 and voiced support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity….

Last month, the Ukrainian military released footage of what it said was a Turkish-supplied drone destroying a position [in Donetsk].