NATO must not “participate” in the conflict according to Turkey, a member of the Alliance

Turkey refuses that NATO “participate” to the war in Ukraine, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Friday, May 31, following an informal meeting of the heads of Alliance diplomacy in Prague (Czech Republic). “We support continued aid to Ukraine and Ukraine’s ability to provide deterrence, but we do not want NATO to participate in this war”affirmed the head of Turkish diplomacy.

For Ankara, “supporting Ukraine to guarantee its territorial integrity and liberate its territories is one thing. But NATO’s involvement in the war is another” added Hakan Fidan, for whom there is a “risks leading to a regional extension [du conflit] and to larger crises”.

Turkey is the only major diplomatic player to maintain good relations with both Ukraine and Russia, its two Black Sea neighbors. In the past, Ankara notably facilitated discussions concerning the agreement on Ukrainian grains, rejected by Russia last July after having been in force for a year.

This country, the easternmost member of NATO, took the opposite view on Friday from certain Atlantic allies, such as France, Germany and the United States, who intend to respond to the intensification of Russian strikes on the Ukrainian territory, in particular against civilian targets. In recent days, the governments of these countries have indicated that they will henceforth tolerate the use of their weapons by kyiv on targets located on Russian territory – which was a red line until then.