Turkey continues 'telephone diplomacy' with Russia, Ukraine

Ukrainians and Crimean Turks protesting Russia's invasion of the country in Turkey's Bursa (Photo: AA)

In a phone call, Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar and Oleksii Reznikov, his counterpart from Ukraine, discussed the latest developments in Ukraine after Russia's invasion, the ministry has stated.

Akar said that Ankara will continue working for peace in the region while continuing its humanitarian aid to Ukraine, according to the statement.

Reznikov also thanked Akar for both humanitarian aid and peace efforts by Turkey.

Yesterday (February 27), Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu spoke by phone Sunday with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on the latest developments in Ukraine, which has been the target of Russian military intervention.

The main topics of the conversation were a possible cease-fire and the humanitarian situation, including the evacuation of civilians, according to a briefing by Turkey's Foreign Ministry.

Sunday was a busy day for Çavuşoğlu as he spoke to several counterparts by phone, including Ukraine's Dmytro Kuleba. Details on the conversation were not disclosed, however.

The top diplomat also held talks on Ukraine with Estonia's Foreign Minister Eva-Maria Liimets along with the Netherlands' Foreign Minister, Wopke Hoekstra, and Helga Schmid, the secretary-general of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

In addition, he discussed the humanitarian issue and efforts to ensure a cease-fire in Ukraine during a conversation with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The invasion of Ukraine

President Vladimir Putin of Russia on early February 24 announced a "special military operation" in Ukraine, days after recognizing two separatist-held enclaves in eastern Ukraine. He claimed that Moscow had no plan to occupy its neighbor, but wanted to "demilitarize" and "denazify" Ukraine.

Western countries imposed financial sanctions on Moscow as a result, and decided to supply Ukraine with weapons.

Turkey, which has had good relations with both Kyiv and Moscow, has opposed the invasion and called both parties to return to diplomacy.

At least 368,000 Ukrainians have fled the country since the beginning of the attack, and more than 100 civilians have lost their lives, according to the UN Refugee Agency. (VK)