Turkey’s Erdogan calls Russian moves against Ukraine ‘unacceptable’

Turkey, whose control of access to the Black Sea could play a critical role in the crisis in Ukraine, rejects Russia’s recognition of two breakaway Ukrainian enclaves as “unacceptable,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call Tuesday.

Mr. Erdogan, who also spoke with Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelenskyy Tuesday, said Ankara did not recognize recent steps by the Kremlin that he said violate Ukraine’s territorial integrity, according to both Turkish and Russian press accounts of the call.

“A military conflict would not bring benefit to anyone,” Mr. Erdogan told Mr. Putin, adding Turkey was anxious to preserve good relations with both Moscow and Kyiv in seeking a diplomatic way to resolve the crisis.

Mr. Erdogan cut short a trip to Africa to return home after Russian “peacekeeper” forces moved into the disputed parts of Ukraine Monday. He told reporters on the way home Turkey was anxious to use its influence on both Moscow and Kyiv to avoid a larger war.

“It is not possible for us to give up on both,” he said, according to the Ankara-based Hurriyet Daily News news service, speaking to reporters on the plane home from Africa. “We have political and military relations with Russia. We also have political, military and economic ties with Ukraine. We want this issue to be resolved without us having to choose between the two.”

It was unclear if Mr. Erdogan, who has long criticized the use of sanctions in international disputes, would join U.S. and European measures to punish Russia for its recent moves against Ukraine.

But Turkey, which shares maritime borders with both Russia and Ukraine, could play a role if the military clash escalates.

Under a 1936 agreement, Turkey, a member of NATO, controls the passage of vessels between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

Earlier this month, six Russian warships and a submarine were allowed to transit through Turkey’s Dardanelles and Bosporus Strait for what Moscow called naval drills near Ukraine waters and what the Biden administration called part of a preparation for war against Kyiv.

Under the agreement, Turkey has the right to shut down the straits to all foreign warships or when it is threatened by aggression.

Mr. Erdogan has proposed a trilateral summit with Mr. Putin and Mr. Zelenskyy in Turkey to try to resolve the conflict, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.