Turkey's Erdogan tells Russia's Putin that Black Sea ship safety can contribute to peace

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in a call on Friday that steps toward achieving navigational safety in the Black Sea would contribute to peace efforts with Ukraine, the Turkish presidency said, adding that Ankara was ready to contribute to these efforts.

In a statement, the presidency said Erdogan told Putin that Turkey was closely following peace efforts between Ukraine and Russia and repeated an offer to host talks.

Erdogan also told Putin that Turkey valued cooperation with Russia in Syria, where the countries backed opposing sides for years, and said Ankara and Moscow should work together to end acts fuelling sectarian violence in Syria, lift sanctions, and achieve lasting stability.

(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Kevin Liffey)