Some NATO members want to use Ukraine conflict to weaken Russia, says Ankara's foreign minister, Ankara.
Turkey wants to negotiate an end to the conflict in Ukraine, while other NATO members would like to see it drag on as a way to harm Russia, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday in a TV interview. In a lengthy appearance on CNN Turk, Cavusoglu addressed Turkey's decision not to sanction Moscow and why the Istanbul talks between Russia and Ukraine failed, among other things.
There are countries within NATO that want the Ukraine war to continue. They view the continuation of the war as weakening Russia. Cavusoglu said they don't care much about the situation in Ukraine.
The former CIA chief of Russian operations, Joe Biden, said earlier this month that the conflict in Ukraine could continue for a long time, despite the fact he did not name any names.
After a phone call with G 7 leaders on Tuesday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that the West is united in not allowing Russia to win and determined to arm the Ukrainian military so that it can continue to defend itself against Russian attack. Turkey has decided not to join the US-led sanctions against Russia because they are unilateral unlike the binding sanctions imposed at the UN, Cavusoglu told CNN Turk. Ankara stated its position on the first day of the Ukraine conflict, which is to continue diplomatic contacts with both sides, as a country that both sides trust. Despite the fact that Turkey did not expect much after the first Russia-Ukraine talks in Antalya, hopes were high after the follow-up talks in Istanbul, according to Cavusoglu. Ukraine backed off of the agreement after pictures of the alleged massacre in Bucha, which Kiev blamed on Russian troops. Moscow has denied the allegations.
Cavusogly also shed light on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's demand for security guarantees from NATO.
This proposal hasn't been accepted by any country. The US, UK and Canada don't accept this either. Turkey does not accept this. The terms of it are not clear, but in principle, no one opposes it. Russia attacked the neighboring state in late February, after Ukraine failed to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, first signed in 2014, and Moscow s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The German and French brokered protocols were designed to give the breakaway regions special status within the Ukrainian state.
The Kremlin has since demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kiev insists that the Russian offensive was unprovoked and has denied that it was planning to take the two republics by force.