Turkey cannot abandon Russia, Erdogan says

Turkey cannot abandon Russia, Erdogan says

Turkey cannot abandon Russia, despite the aggravation of the situation in Ukraine, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said to reporters during his return flight from Senegal.

"Turkey cannot make a choice in favour of Russia or Ukraine," Anadolu Agency quotes the head of state as saying.

According to him, Ankara aims to resolve the situation without damaging ties with Moscow and Kiev. Erdogan added that at the same time, Turkey needs to act very sensitively and take steps carefully.

The head of state also said that after an online meeting with NATO partners, he expects to hold talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. "At this stage, it would be appropriate for us [to hold talks first within the framework of] the NATO summit. It would be much better to have talks [with Putin] afterwards,” the Turkish leader said.

Earlier Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeatedly stated that Turkey is ready to do everything needed to reduce tensions between Russia and Ukraine. In particular, he noted that the republic is ready to host a summit at the level of the leaders of the Russian Federation and Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky.

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