Turkiye has no intention of joining sanctions against Russia: Foreign minister

By Burak Bir

ANKARA (AA) - Turkiye has no intention of joining in international sanctions against Russia over its war with Ukraine, the Turkish foreign minister said on Tuesday.

"As a principle, we didn't participate in such sanctions in a general sense. We have no intention of joining in these sanctions, either," Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Turkish TV news channel Haberturk.

Since Russia's war on Ukraine began last Thursday, it has been met by outrage from the international community, with the EU, UK, and US implementing a range of economic sanctions on Russia.

On Monday, one Russian ruble traded at 111.52 per dollar at 0830GMT after recently falling as much as 40% to 118.6 per dollar, hitting a new record low.

Touching on the Montreux Convention, a 1936 accord on the governing of the Turkish Straits, Cavusoglu said Ankara had sent official notifications about its position on the matter to the countries involved in the war.

He added that Russia had accepted when Turkiye asked Russia to withdraw its request for warships not registered in its Black Sea fleet to pass through the Straits.

With the Russia-Ukraine war in its sixth day, the provisions of the 1936 pact -- which controls access to the Black Sea, including coastal countries like Ukraine -- has come into the international spotlight.

Cavusoglu mentioned in particular that Articles 19 of the convention would be implemented.

The convention gives Turkiye the authority to ban warships from the straits during times of war.

Since Russia began its war on Ukraine last Thursday, it has been met by outrage from the international community, with the EU, UK, Canada, Japan and the US implementing a range of economic sanctions on Moscow.

At least 136 civilians, including 13 children, have been killed and 400 others, including 26 children, injured in Ukraine, according to UN figures.

Around 660,000 people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries, the international body said Tuesday.