Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Kiev deserved to join NATO, but also urged it to enter peace talks with Moscow.

"There is no doubt that Ukraine deserves membership of NATO," Erdogan told a joint media appearance with the Ukrainian president, adding that "both sides should go back to peace talks".

Russian President Vladimir Putin will next month pay his first visit to Türkiye since the Kremlin launched its invasion of Ukraine 500 days ago, Erdogan added.

"Next month Putin will pay a visit to Türkiye," he said, adding that he would discuss prisoner swaps with the Russian leader.

Zelenskyy said his country was grateful for Türkiye's support for Ukraine's territorial integrity.

He said Kiev wants to implement peace plan and expressed Türkiye is ready to assume the leadership on issue.

1200 GMT — UN slams civilian toll as Russia-Ukraine reaches day 500

The United Nations has condemned the civilian cost inflicted by Russia's war in Ukraine as the fighting passed the 500-day mark with no end to the conflict in sight.

More than 9,000 civilians, including 500 children, have been killed since Russia's February 24, 2022 invasion, the UN's Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine [HRMMU] said in a statement, though UN representatives have previously said the real count is likely to be much higher.

"Today we mark another grim milestone in the war that continues to exact a horrific toll on Ukraine's civilians," Noel Calhoun, the deputy head of HRMMU, said in the statement marking the 500th day since the invasion.

While this year the casualty numbers have been lower on average than in 2022, the figure began to climb again in May and June, the monitors noted.

Source: TRTworld.com