Cavusoglu: Russia and Ukraine trust Turkey’s “principled position”

Turkey is making active efforts to stop the special operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

According to the Anadolu agency, the minister stressed that “the country’s friendly relations with Russia are not an obstacle for Ankara on the way of upholding justice.” At the same time, according to him, “the fact that both Russia and Ukraine continue a dialogue with Turkey in the conditions of war is an indicator of trust in Ankara’s principled position.”

In addition, Cavusoglu recalled that the day before the start of the special operation, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had a conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. “Unfortunately, Ankara’s calls were not heard by Moscow, and the situation has reached the current stage,” he added, stressing that Turkey “on all platforms, including at the UN level, strongly supported the territorial integrity of Ukraine.”

Recall that earlier Cavusoglu said that at the talks between Russia and Ukraine, the parties are close to agreeing on “important critical issues.”

On February 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin made an emergency appeal to the Russians and announced a special military operation in the Donbass. In his speech, he stated that “circumstances require decisive action from Russia” and stressed that “Russia will not allow Ukraine to have nuclear weapons.” In response to Russia’s actions, Western countries (USA, Canada, EU, UK, Japan) announced new, tougher sanctions against the Russian Federation, including financial and economic ones.

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