Ukraine deserves to become a member of NATO, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced after the meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Istanbul on Friday evening.
“There is no doubt that Ukraine deserves NATO membership,” Erdogan said at a joint press conference with Zelenskiy.
It is expected that the NATO members will confirm their commitment to admit Ukraine into the alliance at the summit scheduled for next week in Vilnius.
Erdogan also said that Turkey is working to extend the agreement brokered by Ankara on the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea. The term of the agreement will expire on July 17, but Russia does not agree to the extension of the term.
“We continue to work on the issue of the “grain corridor”. We are working to find out how long we can extend it after July 17,” said the Turkish president.
In turn, Zelensky accused Russia of obstructing the movement of ships in the Black Sea.
“Russia behaves as if it owns the entire Black Sea, as if it is the mistress here,” Zelensky said.
Erdogan also announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Turkey in August, with whom he intends to discuss issues related to the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea and the exchange of prisoners of war between Russia and Ukraine.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Erdogan has sought to mediate between Moscow and Kyiv in an effort to end the war.
2023-07-08 10:06:43
#Erdogan #Ukraine #NATO #alliance
