Turkey will continue selling weapons to Ukraine, despite Putin's discontent. Photo: Ministry of Defense of Ukraine
The Kremlin's discontent will not impact Turkey's decision to sell weapons to Ukraine in any way. In particular, this refers to the upcoming weapons agreements between the parties on additional combat UAVs.
The military cooperation between Ankara and Kyiv is not targeted against Russia and will not be interrupted to please it, Fahrettin Altun, Director of Communications of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, states.
Context. Today, on February 3, Volodymer Zelenskyy and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Presidents of Ukraine and Turkey, will hold a meeting in Kyiv. It is expected that during the visit the parties will sign 12 interstate agreements, including on a free trade zone.
As a NATO member, Turkey has become a key ally of Ukraine in recent years, selling dozens of Bayraktar TB2 UAVs, according to Bloomberg. Also, the Turkish authorities continue to condemn Moscow for the annexation of Crimea in 2014. The tightening of cooperation between the parties has resulted in a boom in bilateral trade, the outlet adds.
Turkey has repeatedly offered to become an intermediary between the Russian Federation and Ukraine to reduce tension between them.