Russia is slated to discuss the “pulling of Ukraine into NATO” during the upcoming contacts with Ankara, Russian TASS news agency cited Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as saying on Monday. Moscow’s position on the attempts to pull Ukraine into NATO is “very unambiguous,’’ Lavrov said, adding that this was a stance “responsible states understand very clearly.’’ Lavrov’s remarks follow an announcement by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on Saturday that the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Turkey had discussed the expansion of cooperation between their navies, in a bid to increase the former’s “defensive capability and its compatibility with NATO member states”. “We plan another contact within our regular dialogue with the Turkish colleagues. I believe we will discuss this topic as well, of course,” Lavrov said. Turkish-Ukrainian ties have strengthened since Volodomyr Zelensky took office as president in 2019. In April, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan vowed support to Kyiv amid a flare up in tensions with Russia, which saw Moscow reinforce its troops along its border with Ukraine. Lavrov last month warned Ankara against what he called attempts to fuel “militaristic sentiment” in the neighbouring rival country.
Ahval