ISTANBUL, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Turkey's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday it rejects Russia's annexation of four regions in Ukraine, adding the decision is a "grave violation" of international law.
Turkey, a NATO member, has conducted a diplomatic balancing act since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. Ankara opposes Western sanctions on Russia and has close ties with both Moscow and Kyiv, its Black Sea neighbours. It has also criticised Russia's invasion and sent armed drones to Ukraine.
The Turkish ministry said on Saturday it had not recognised Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, adding that it rejects Russia's decision to annex the four regions, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register
"This decision, which constitutes a grave violation of the established principles of international law, cannot be accepted," the ministry said.
"We reiterate our support to the resolution of this war, the severity of which keeps growing, based on a just peace that will be reached through negotiations," it added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin proclaimed the annexation of the regions on Friday, promising Moscow would triumph in its "special military operation" even as he faced a potentially serious new military reversal.
His proclamation came after Russia held what it called referendums in occupied areas of Ukraine. Western governments and Kyiv said the votes breached international law and were coercive and non-representative.
The United States, Britain and Canada announced new sanctions in response.
Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskiy said on Friday his country had submitted a fast-track application to join the NATO military alliance and that he would not hold peace talks with Russia while Putin was still president.
Reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen Editing by Frances Kerry
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
jiquvox on October 1st, 2022 at 09:10 UTC »
And that’s 5.
Serbia, Kazakhstan, Israel, Hungary and now Turkey.
5 countries that didn’t join sanctions, 5 countries that are neutral or sometimes downright friendly to Russia and states flatly they refuse to recognize Russia fake referendum.
Keep them coming. There more there are, the less anyone else will even entertain the idea of recognizing it…
And the more hesitant Putin will be to make a super brash move based on it as he knows nobody will come to help him on this and might actually limit relations with him if he presses on this.
And the more the Russian establishment might feel Putin is running them into a dead end, fear being isolated worldwide and be tempted to take him out.
MehmetPasha1453 on October 1st, 2022 at 08:14 UTC »
Who is even recognizing those sham referendums at this point?
autotldr on October 1st, 2022 at 08:00 UTC »
This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 68%. (I'm a bot)
Extended Summary | FAQ | Feedback | Top keywords: Russia#1 Ukraine#2 international#3 military#4 President#5