According to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, the annexation of four areas of Ukraine by Russia is unacceptable and constitutes a “grave breach” of international law.
NATO member Turkey has played a delicate diplomatic balancing act ever since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Ankara opposes Western sanctions on Russia and maintains tight ties with Kyiv and Moscow, two of its neighbors on the Black Sea. Additionally, it dispatched armed drones to Ukraine and criticized Russia’s incursion.
In addition to rejecting Russia’s move to annex Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia, the Turkish ministry stated on Saturday that it had not recognized Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
This judgment, which is a serious breach of acknowledged international law standards, cannot be accepted, the ministry declared.
“We renew our support for the settlement of this war, the severity of which continues escalating, based on a just peace that will be reached via negotiations,” it said.
Despite facing a potentially major new military reversal, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the annexation of the provinces on Friday. He also pledged that Moscow would succeed in its “special military operation.”
After Russia organized so-called referendums in Ukraine’s seized regions, he declared. The ballots, according to Western nations and Kyiv, violated international law and were coerced and unrepresentative.
