Turkey wants to bring Russian and Ukrainian FMs together in Antalya

Turkey wants to bring the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers together at the Antalya Diplomacy next week, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğu said on March 4.

Friday March 04 2022 04:50 pm

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Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on March 4 the situation in Ukraine was worsening and it must not be allowed to escalate, adding Turkey would keep its air space open.

"It is important not only for Turkey, but also for the countries that impose these sanctions (on Russia) and their citizens, that this airspace is open ... both in strategic and humanitarian terms," Çavuşoğlu said following a meeting of top NATO diplomats in Brussels.

Çavuşoğlu added Turkey and Russia were in contact at the military level to make sure Turkish vessels could safely return from ports in the Black Sea.

He also said Ankara wanted to bring the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers together at a diplomacy forum in Turkey's southern province of Antalya next week, but that it was unclear if the ministers would be able to attend.

The Antalya Diplomacy Forum will be held on March 11-13.

Russia's war on Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24, has been met with international outrage, with the EU, US, and UK, among others, implementing financial sanctions on Moscow.

Moscow has been further isolated with its planes barred from flying in European, US and Canadian airspace.

More than a million people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries, according to the UN Refugee Agency.

In the second round of peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv on March 3, the two sides agreed on creating humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians.

Topics Turkey Çavuşoğlu Russia Ukraine