President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Thursday discussed Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine in a phone call, a statement said.
Both Turkey and France condemned Moscow’s decision to launch an invasion of Ukraine earlier on Thursday, assaulting by land, sea and air in the biggest attack by one state against another in Europe since World War II.
Russian forces targeted key areas of Ukrainian cities with weapons and missiles in what Moscow called a special operation against its neighbor.
Erdoğan and Macron discussed the intervention and the latest developments, the Turkish Communications Directorate said.
Erdoğan earlier in the day said the assault was “against international law and a heavy blow to peace, tranquility and stability of the region.”
He said Turkey backs Ukraine’s territorial integrity and is “sincerely saddened” by Russia’s invasion.
“Russia must immediately put an end to its military operations,” Macron wrote on Twitter, saying Russia had made the decision to “wage war” on Ukraine.
“France stands in solidarity with Ukraine. It stands by Ukrainians and is working with its partners and allies to end the war,” he added.
Erdoğan, who has forged good relations with the leaders of both Russia and Ukraine and had previously offered to mediate in the conflict, earlier on Thursday spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by telephone.
“Turkey supports Ukraine’s battle to protect its territorial integrity,” the president said.
Turkey’s foreign ministry called for an immediate end to Russia’s military operations. “This attack is a grave violation of international law and poses a serious threat to the security of our region and the world,” the ministry said.
“We call on the Russian Federation to immediately end this unjust and unlawful act.”
