Ankara wants to contribute to peace between Russia, Ukraine: Turkish official

By Seda Sevencan

ISTANBUL (AA) - Türkiye's goal is to contribute to a just peace between Russia and Ukraine, the Turkish communications director said.

In an interview with Il Messaggero, one of Italy's leading newspapers, ahead of the third Intergovernmental Summit to be held between Türkiye and Italy, Fahrettin Altun said: “By contrast, there are certain players that believe that they could benefit from the war dragging on for as long as possible. Türkiye has never been such a country. Nor will we be like that in the future. We must believe in peace and strive for peace."

To a question about sanctions on Russia, Altun said the issue of sanctions has been “seriously politicized” in recent years.

Recalling that some “politically motivated sanctions” were imposed on Türkiye’s defense industry, Altun said: “For this reason, we believe that sanctions will only be meaningful and legitimate if they are decided under the UN’s umbrella.”

The communications director also reiterated Türkiye's stance on Sweden and Finland's bids for NATO membership.

"If these nations, which remained neutral for a long time, are admitted into NATO, we will be pledging to defend them under Article 5. Therefore, we need to see that those countries have fully internalized NATO's values and objectives and, at the same time, are fully committed to the Turkish people's safety," Altun said.

He also said that Ankara values Italy's support for Türkiye's EU membership since the beginning.

“As Southern European nations, we should cooperate much more closely," the Turkish official added.