Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Turkey cannot be blamed for Ukraine deploying Turkish-made drones, informs “Voice of America”.
“If (this or that – ed.) the state buys them from us, then this is no longer a Turkish product, ”Cavusoglu told reporters after a meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the G20 summit in Rome.
Cavusoglu also noted that “perhaps his (drone – ed.) produced by Turkey, but it belongs to Ukraine. “
“Turkey cannot be blamed for this,” Cavusoglu said.
At the same time, the head of Turkish diplomacy called on Ukraine to stop referring to Turkey in conversations about drones.
Ukraine, receiving military support from NATO countries, has entered into an agreement with Ankara to produce drones at a plant near Kiev.
The agreement caused discontent among Russia, which closely cooperates with Ankara on the conflicts in Syria, Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh, despite the support of the warring parties.
The Kremlin said on Wednesday that drones could have a destabilizing effect in eastern Ukraine. This was preceded by deployment of a drone by Kiev Bayraktar TB2 to strike at a position controlled by Russian-backed separatists.
President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky said on Friday that Kiev’s use of drones was defensive in nature. Ukrainian military forces said one of them was deployed to force Russian separatists to cease fire on Tuesday, noting that it did not cross the contact line between warring parties.
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