Turkish Foreign Ministry supports provision of weapons to Ukraine, but not NATO's "participation" in war

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stated that while Ankara does not want the North Atlantic Alliance to "participate" in the war in Ukraine, it does favour the provision of military assistance to Kyiv.

Source: Fidan after a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Prague on 31 May, writes AFP, as reported by European Pravda 

Details: Fidan says Türkiye "supports continued assistance to Ukraine and Ukraine's ability to deter Russia".

Quote: "However, we do not want NATO to join this conflict. We feel that there should be a balance between these two things, both on the part of the member nations and NATO," Fidan said and went on to warn that the unrest could expand throughout the region and exacerbate existing crises.

His statement came after a decision by a number of Alliance countries, particularly the United States and Germany, to authorise Ukraine to attack Russian military facilities with the weapons they provided, but on certain conditions.

According to the European Commission, under international law Ukraine has the right to defend itself from armed aggression, including striking military targets on Russian territory.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg insisted that Ukraine has the right to strike Russian territory and emphasised that more and more allies agree with this.

Despite being a NATO member, Türkiye has maintained diplomatic and economic connections with Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

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