NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg praised Turkey’s efforts to find a diplomatic solution to Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine.

Speaking at a live broadcast on NBC late Sunday, Stoltenberg said he visited Turkey and met with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to discuss the ongoing developments in Ukraine.

"I visited Turkey a few days ago, met with President Erdoğan, and Turkey is doing some real efforts to try to facilitate support, talks between Russia and Ukraine," Stoltenberg said, adding that he thought it was still too early to say whether the talks can produce concrete results.

Turkey has been one of the countries leading efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has affected millions of civilians. Turkey says it can facilitate peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, but says that a cease-fire and humanitarian corridors are needed first.

Last week, Ukraine said it was working with Turkey and Israel as mediators to set a place and framework for talks with Russia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow views mediation offers from Turkey and Israel to resolve the crisis in Ukraine positively.

Earlier in March, the Turkish resort city of Antalya hosted the first talks between Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba since the start of Russia's invasion. The talks were largely inconclusive, but Ankara considers the fact that they took place at all a success.

Maintaining its neutral and balanced stance, Turkey continues its diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the Ukraine conflict, urging all sides to exercise restraint. While Ankara has opposed international sanctions designed to isolate Moscow, it also closed its straits to prevent some Russian vessels from crossing the Turkish Straits.

NATO ally Turkey borders Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea and has good ties with both. Since the beginning of the conflict, Ankara has offered to mediate between the two sides and host peace talks, underlining its support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. Having recently called Russia’s invasion an unacceptable violation of international law, Turkey has carefully formulated its rhetoric not to offend Moscow, with which it has close energy, defense and tourism ties.