Mr. Ivan Timofeyev, General Director of the Russian Council for International Relations, commented in an interview with TASS. He pointed out that this is because Ankara has long maintained close military-technical relations with Kiev.
On the one hand, Turkey is a NATO member and an ally of the United States, but on the other hand, it is a long-time partner of Russia. The Turkish people are implementing what is called a multi-dimensional foreign policy" - the Russian expert explained.
He added: "Turkey has maintained quite close and long-standing relations with Ukraine, including the military-technical field.
“Ukraine is a consumption market for Turkey and the Turks, along with other activities, have taken advantage of this. Therefore, Turkey's appearance in this issue is relatively unusual, but not too surprising,” Mr. Timofeyev said.
Earlier, the US State Department informed Congress that Turkey could re-export to Ukraine US weapons that have passed the test age, worth 255.9 million USD, including multiple launch rocket systems and ammunition, 203mm artillery shells and ATACMS missiles. The US government said it is ready to approve this transfer package.
Regarding this information, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova warned that any activity to provide more US weapons to Ukraine through Turkey will cause the death toll to continue to rise, and will certainly worsen Moscow's relations with Washington and Ankara.
