20 Jan 2022; MEMO: Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, warns Russia against invading Ukraine, calling the former Soviet republic a "powerful" country with international friends, AFP reports.
According to the report, speaking to Turkish reporters in Albania, Erdogan said he intended to discuss the rising tensions with Russian President, Vladimir Putin.
"You cannot handle these things by saying 'I will invade something, I will take it,'" Turkish media quotes Erdogan as saying. "I don't see Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a realistic approach because it is not an ordinary country. Ukraine is a powerful country," Erdogan said.
"I don't see Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a realistic option because it is not an ordinary country. Ukraine is a powerful country," said Erdogan, who backs Ukraine's NATO aspirations.
In 2021 Ukraine ordered Turkish Bayraktar drones. Turkey's being a beneficiary ally for Ukraine's defence spending angers Russia.
