Türkiye, Ukraine vow stronger ties amid regional war

ANKARA

Türkiye and Ukraine have reiterated their will to strengthen bilateral ties through boosting cooperation on economy, defense industry and energy amid continued Russian occupation of the latter.

Ukraine Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, who served as the Ukraine’s ambassador to Türkiye between 2016 and 2021, paid his first visit to Ankara on October 21 under his new capacity as the foreign minister. Sybhia held talks with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defense Minister Yaşar Güler and Trade Minister Ömer Bolat.

The two top diplomats have also organized a press conference to summarize the issues they have discussed during the talks.

“Ties between Türkiye and Ukraine are developing in a very confident way. We are facing geopolitical challenges stemming from the war. Despite this, our multidimensional cooperation with Ukraine is improving day by day,” Fidan said.

For his part Sybhia recalled that he feels home in Ankara and underlined his readiness to further contribute to the development of bilateral ties.

“Türkiye is our strategic partner and we want to build secure and strong ties with our partner based on mutual interest,” Sybiha said.

Fidan repeated Türkiye’s support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity including Crimea and sovereignty.

“I want to underline once again that we are ready to contribute to the efforts for peace [between Russia and Ukraine]. You know the sensitivity of our President [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan on this. He is working really hard for ending this war that causes enormous destruction and death toll,” Fidan stated.

He also recalled that peace talks should be carried out with the participation of all parties.

Syhbia informed that he introduced the Victory Plan prepared by Ukrainian President Volodomyry Zelensky to Fidan and informed him about Ukraine’s efforts to bring an end to the war.

“We are grateful to Türkiye for its support from the first day of the war,” the minister said. “It is very important for us that Türkiye backs the Ukraine Peace Plan and leads the Black Sea Grain Initiative,” he said.

The only way to bring a lasting and fair solution to the problem with Russia is the Ukraine Peace Plan, Sybiha added.