EU to mark 1st year of Russia-Ukraine war next month at Istanbul event

By Sumeyye Dilara Dincer and Faruk Zorlu

ANKARA (AA) - To mark the first year of the Russia-Ukraine war, the EU plans to hold a major event in Istanbul next month, the bloc's top representative in Ankara said on Monday.

"We will organize quite a major event here in Istanbul after what would then be one year of the Russian war against Ukraine," on Feb. 22, with high-level Ukrainian government officials to be invited, Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut, head of the EU Delegation to Turkiye told reporters in Istanbul.

The geopolitical and economic impact of the war will be on the agenda of the event, which will be joined by a Turkish representative as well, Meyer-Landrut said, adding that it was not yet clear who would be attending.

He underlined that the day the war broke out, Feb. 24, 2022, was a "key moment defining moment in European history."

Stressing the significance of the Russia-Ukraine war for the European security situation, he said it was akin to that of the "sea change moment" of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks for US security history.