Erdogan: Turkey adopts a “fair, balanced stance” in the situation between Russia and Ukraine

According to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has adopted a “fair and balanced stance” in the Russia-Ukraine crisis and improved relations with both nations.

Erdogan said at a rally in the eastern province of Bayburt on Saturday after his meeting with visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday. “While strengthening our relations with Ukraine, we did not allow our relations with the Russian Federation to deteriorate,” the Xinhua news agency said.

Hopefully, we’ll also have a meeting with Vladimir Putin in August, he said.

The Turkish leader stated, in reference to the conflict’s detrimental impacts on the Turkish economy, “every event happening around us has reflections on the economy,” adding that oil and food prices had risen to all-time highs globally.

While Zelensky’s trip to Turkey was his first since the Russia-Ukraine War broke out in February 2022, he and Erdogan have often talked on the phone as Ankara has pushed for peace negotiations between Moscow and Kiev.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative was negotiated by the United Nations and Turkey in July 2022 with Russia and Ukraine to create a humanitarian maritime route for ships exporting food and fertiliser from Ukrainian Black Sea ports.