Russia-Ukraine war: Turkey will continue to support Ukraine's territorial integrity, says President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday said Russia's attack on Ukraine is "unacceptable" and that Turkey will continue to support Ukraine's territorial integrity. He was speaking at a security summit over Moscow's offensive.

Earlier on Wednesday, Erdogan had spoken with Russian President Vladmir Putin over the phone and told him that Turkey wouldn't recognise move against Ukraine's sovereignty. He had also warned Putin against military conflict. According to his office, Erdogan told Putin that Turkey would "not recognise any step against Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity", adding that this was Ankara's "principled approach".

Meanwhile, soon after Russia launched its military operations in Ukraine on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the decision of severing his country's diplomatic relations with Moscow.

"Kyiv is terminating diplomatic relations with Moscow amid Russia's military operation," the Russian News Agency Sputnik quoted Zelenskyy as saying.

"We have severed diplomatic relations with Russia," Zelenskyy said. The Ukrainian authorities will inform the press on how the situation unfolds every hour, he added.

While speaking, Zelenskyy switched to the Russian language to address "Russian people." "I know that this information is absolutely not shown on your TV channels, a lot of things are blocked in social networks. But blocking is evil, ... it is impossible to block history," he said, before switching back to the Ukrainian language, Sputnik reported.

Earlier today, Russian President Vladimir Putin said special military operations are being launched. He also warned other countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action would lead to "consequences".

Published on: Thursday, February 24, 2022, 05:19 PM IST