Ankara to remain Kyiv’s strategic partner: Ukrainian envoy

By Mehmet Alaca

ANKARA (AA) - Ankara is and will remain Kyiv’s strategic partner, the Ukrainian ambassador to Türkiye said on Wednesday.

In an interview with Anadolu Agency on the 31st anniversary of Ukraine’s Independence Day, Vasyl Vodnar praised Türkiye’s mediation role that helped achieve a grain export deal signed in Istanbul last month.

"We very much appreciate Türkiye's move to close the Istanbul and Canakkale straits to Russian warships going to war in Ukraine," Bodnar said.

He said that they will invite Turkish companies to help rebuild Ukraine, adding: “Türkiye is our friend and we are always open and honest with our friends.”

The ambassador noted that they received invaluable support from the Turkish people after the war started in late February.

Drawing attention to the importance of the Istanbul deal, Bodnar said that Ukraine needs more ships to export its grain in a safer and faster way.

Last month, Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine signed a deal in Istanbul to reopen three Ukrainian Black Sea ports for exporting Ukrainian grain stuck due to the Russia-Ukraine war, which is now in its seventh month.

The exports of grain have already stabilized international markets by decreasing the inflated prices, he said, adding that these developments will contribute to the complete removal of the food crisis from the world agenda.

He also underscored the role of Türkiye and the UN in ensuring the deal and remarked Kyiv expects Moscow to fully comply with the provisions of the deal.

“While we are marking the sixth month of the Russian attack on Ukraine today, it is safe to say Russia’s plans of gaining a victory has come to naught,” Bodnar said.

Ukraine has successfully defended its major cities including the capital Kyiv, Sumi, Chernihiv, Kharkiv while undermining Russia’s ability to continue the war by attacking Russian supply lines, ammunition depots and command centers, he added.

Bodnar said that Russia has lost 45,000 personnel so far in the war, a claim Moscow has not confirmed.

He stressed that the current situation in the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is critical, and said Russian forces have stocked military equipment and ammunition in the facility.

Russian troops should unconditionally withdraw from the plant as soon as possible and then the plant should be demilitarized, he said.

*Writing by Ahmet Gencturk