Turkey's Erdogan to visit Ukraine in coming weeks
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After the EU went to Ukraine to "show support" Kyiv against Moscow, Turkey heads for the Eastern European nation for the same purpose after warning Russia against an invasion.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (AFP)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is planning on visiting Ukraine in the coming weeks, his spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin said Wednesday, one day after the Turkish president warned Russia against invading Ukraine.
"The Turkish president will visit Ukraine in the coming weeks," Kalin said.
A spokesperson for Erdogan's office said she had no knowledge of his plans to visit Ukraine, adding that she learned about the visit through media inquiries on the matter.
"At the moment I do not have such information. If there is any exact information, we will inform journalists about it," the spokeswoman said after reporters asked her about the exact date of the visit.
Tensions between Ukraine and its neighbor to the east, Russia, are soaring amid western allegations that Moscow is planning a military invasion.
Moscow held talks with Washington and NATO over security guarantees as tensions soar with Kyiv, and the latter has been "reluctant" when it came to promising that Ukraine would not become a party to the alliance, as Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Russia has been demanding a written commitment that Ukraine would never be able to join NATO and that the alliance would not place any military equipment in certain countries in the region surrounding Russia.
The Kremlin sees that it is best for Russian security that the alliance does not expand eastward and that Russia does not have any Western military activity in its vicinity.
Moscow's ambassador to the United States said Saturday Russia did not see any remarkable results from the Geneva security talks with the US and NATO, saying Russia would decide whether talks continue or not based on the Western response to its demands.
EU in Ukraine before Turkey
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell went to Ukraine earlier this month to "show support" for Kyiv in light of Western allegations against Russia for its alleged intention of invading Ukraine.
The visit came after months of tensions, with the West threatening Moscow with massive coordinated sanctions if it were to invade Ukraine.
"With Russia’s increased military build-up, I am here to show EU support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity," Borrell said on Twitter at the time.
