U.S. warns Russia will fake Ukrainian attack to justify an invasion
The President of Turkey – Recep Tayyip Erdogan has offered to hold a Ukraine-Russia Summit, to de-escalate the rising tension between the two nations.
His remarks came during his visit to Kyiv, where he met the President of Ukraine – Volodymyr Zelensky. This comes in the backdrop of United States (U.S.) sending additional 1,000 troops to Romania and 2,000 troops to Poland to stop the possible Russian attack. Besides, Russia has also refused to withdraw 120,000 troops from Ukraine border.
Erdogan offered to leverage his special relationship with the President of Russia – Vladimir Putin and provide strong support for Kyiv to set up peace talks.
Taking it to twitter, Erdogan tweeted (translated to English), “Turkey is ready to do its part to end the crisis between the two friendly countries that it neighbors from the Black Sea. We would gladly host a summit or technical discussion at the leaders level.” Original tweet in Turkish:
Türkiye Karadeniz’den komşu olduğu iki dost ülke arasındaki krizin sonlandırılması için üzerine düşeni yapmaya hazırdır.
— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) February 3, 2022
Liderler seviyesinde bir zirveye ya da teknik görüşmelere memnuniyetle ev sahipliği yapabiliriz. pic.twitter.com/q89e4ZyNIt
He further tweeted (translated to English), “Instead of fueling the fire, we act with the logic of how to lower the blood pressure. We support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, including Crimea. We attach great importance to the role of the Ukraine Special Monitoring Mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in the control of the Donbas conflict.” (Original tweet in Turkish:
Yangına körükle gitmek yerine tansiyonu nasıl düşürürüz mantığıyla hareket ediyoruz.
— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) February 3, 2022
Kırım dâhil Ukrayna’nın egemenliği ve toprak bütünlüğünü destekliyoruz.
Donbas ihtilafının kontrolünde Avrupa Güvenlik ve İş Birliği Teşkilatı Ukrayna Özel Gözlem Misyonunun rolünü önemsiyoruz. pic.twitter.com/Fe4cyZF2LS
Zelenskyy thanked him for the efforts and said that he is ready to do everything possible in all platforms and in all formats to bring peace to Ukraine. Erdogan has stepped up as a mediator between Ukraine and Russia as he believes he can talk freely and frankly with both Zelenskyy and Putin.
Besides, U.S. has warned that Russia is planning to stage a fake Ukrainian attack that it would use to justify an invasion. It alleged Moscow will release a graphic video showing the attack on Russian territory or against Russian-speaking people in Eastern Ukraine. The U.S. said it is revealing the Russian plan to dissuade them from attacking Ukraine. The U.S. has not provided any evidence to support its allegations. However, Russia has denied the claims.
Besides, Putin is presently in China for the Winter Olympics, where he will meet the President of China – Xi Jinping. This would be their first face-to-face meeting since the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Putin is looking for support from China as the West prepares to sanction Russia, in case it invades Ukraine. Russia are close friends and Jinping has earlier praised Putin as his “best friend”.
