Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan informed his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Thursday of his readiness to "take the initiative" to end the war in Ukraine, following a prisoner exchange deal between Washington and Moscow in Turkey.

During a phone call with Putin, Erdoğan said he is "ready to take the initiative to end the war between Russia and Ukraine and mediate a path to peace," according to a statement from the Turkish presidency.

Erdoğan expressed his desire to establish lasting peace in the region as soon as possible, by increasing the momentum gained during the Istanbul talks.

The Turkish presidency added that Putin "thanked" Erdoğan for the prisoner exchange between Washington and Moscow, which was announced on Wednesday and "took place in Turkey with the coordination and supervision" of Turkish intelligence agencies.

The exchange involved former Marine Trevor Reed, who was sentenced to nine years in prison in Russia, and pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who had been imprisoned in the United States since 2010.

The Kremlin said in a statement, "President Vladimir Putin expressed his gratitude to the Turkish leader for his assistance in the success of" this exchange.

The Russian presidency explained that the two leaders "continued their dialogue on the humanitarian aspects" of the war in Ukraine, particularly "in the context of discussions held in Moscow with the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres."

Guterres met with Putin in the Russian capital on Tuesday and is visiting Ukraine on Thursday.

Turkey, a NATO member and an ally of Ukraine, is attempting to facilitate mediation between Moscow and Kyiv, and has so far refused to join Western sanctions against Russia.

Turkey has twice hosted direct negotiations between the two sides at the ministerial level on March 10 in Antalya, and on the 29th in Istanbul.

Since then, Erdoğan has said on several occasions that he wants to host a meeting in Istanbul between Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.