Top Turkish, US defense officials discuss Ukraine situation

By Ahmet Gencturk

ANKARA (AA) – Turkiye’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar held a phone call with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Thursday to discuss the situation in Ukraine.

Akar and Austin also discussed bilateral ties and other regional defense and security issues, the Turkish National Defense Ministry said on Twitter.

Both Turkiye and the US have criticized Moscow’s decision to launch a military intervention in Ukraine, which began early on Thursday with Russian forces targeting key areas of cities with weapons and missiles, according to reports.​​​​​​​

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said earlier in the day that Russia’s military intervention against its western neighbor was “against international law and a heavy blow to peace, tranquility, and stability of the region.”

Turkiye rejects Russia’s “unacceptable” military operation against Ukraine and reiterates its call for Moscow and Kyiv to resolve their issues through dialogue in line with the Minsk agreements, he said.

- Donbas crisis and Russia’s military intervention

The February 2014 “Maidan revolution” in Ukraine led to former President Viktor Yanukovych fleeing the country and a pro-Western government coming to power.

That was followed by Russia illegally annexing the Crimea region and separatists declaring independence in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Donbas in eastern Ukraine, both of which have large ethnic Russian populations.

As clashes erupted between Russian-backed separatist forces and the Ukrainian army, the 2014 and 2015 Minsk agreements were signed in Moscow after the intervention of Western powers.

The conflict, however, simmered for years with persistent cease-fire violations.

As of February 2022, some 14,000 people have been killed in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Tensions started escalating late last year when Ukraine, the US and its allies accused Russia of amassing tens of thousands of troops on the border with Ukraine.

They claimed Russia was preparing to invade its western neighbor, allegations that were consistently rejected by Moscow.

Defying threats of sanctions by the West, Moscow officially recognized Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states earlier this week, followed by the start of a military operation in Ukraine on Thursday.

President Vladimir Putin said the operation aims to protect people “subjected to genocide” by Kyiv and to “demilitarize and denazify” Ukraine, while calling on the Ukrainian army to lay down its arms.​​​​​​​​​​