Turkey not responsible for use of Turkish-produced drones by Ukraine – Turkish FM

Turkey is not responsible for the use of Turkish-made drones by Ukraine in the conflict against pro-Russian militants, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said after a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Rome on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

“If a country buys weapons from us or another country, then those weapons cannot be labeled Turkish, Russian or Ukrainian. If the country buys weapons from us, then that product is no longer Turkish! It can be produced in Turkey, but belongs to Ukraine. Turkey should not be blamed for this,” said Cavusoglu, noting that Ukraine should stop mentioning Turkey’s name.

Ukraine used Turkish Bayraktar drones in Donbas recently, destroying the enemy’s artillery system. Commenting on the use of Turkish drones, Russian president’s spokesman Dmitry Peksov said that the supply of Bayraktar strike drones to Ukraine could have negative consequences and destabilize the situation in Donbas.

“We have really good relations with Turkey, but in this case, unfortunately, our fears are confirmed that the supply of such weapons to the Ukrainian military could destabilize the situation on the line of contact,” Peskov said.

Ukraine is one of the active buyers of Turkish-made Bayraktar drones.

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