Turkey remains the spoiler at the NATO summit in Madrid, not only with regard to Finnish and Swedish membership in the alliance, but also towards Russia. Fahrettin Altun, director of communications of the Turkish Presidency, told the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero in an interview, that Turkey won’t support extending the conflict in Ukraine, although it believes there are countries that see benefits in doing so. “The goal of Turkey under any circumstances is to help the establishment of a fair peace,” he said, reported TASS. “On the other hand, there are actors that believe that it’s beneficial for them to extend this war as long as possible. They think that Russia will be weakened if the war drags on, and they support the Ukrainians only to the extent that enables them to prolong the war.”
“Turkey has never been and never will be one of them. We must believe in peace and strive for it,” he continued. The official said that Turkey, “with the start of war in Ukraine, stopped the passage of warships in the Black Sea, putting into practice the Montreux Convention.” According to Altun, Ankara also “delivered a significant amount of humanitarian aid to the Ukrainian people.”
