On Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for a diplomatic solution to the escalating conflict in eastern Ukraine. Erdogan hopes that tensions will not escalate further and has provided Ukraine with “any kind of support.”
The Turkish president had an hour-long conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday. After that, the two of them held a joint press conference.
“We believe that the current crisis must be resolved on the basis of the integrity of Ukraine and international law through diplomatic and peaceful means,” Erdogan said. We want the Black Sea to remain a sea of peace and cooperation. We do not want more tensions in our common area. “
Turkey enjoys good relations with Ukraine, and in 2014 quickly condemned Russia’s annexation of Crimea, which subsequently led to the outbreak of the struggle for independence in the Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk. Erdogan also repeated this position on Saturday.
The European Union and the United States imposed sanctions on Russia. But they were unable to prevent tensions in eastern Ukraine from escalating again recently. In recent days, thousands of Russian soldiers and military equipment have been deployed on the Russia-Ukraine border.
At Saturday’s meeting in Ankara, there was also talk of military cooperation between Turkey and Ukraine. Ukraine has already bought six Turkish attack drones. Next week, Turkey will allow two US warships to enter the Black Sea via the Bosphorus.
