Turkey can support Ukraine in the event of a hypothetical military conflict only on one condition - economic control over Crimea. This was stated by political analyst Alexander Kochetkov on the Ukrainian portal "Glavred" on November 18.
"Turkey will act depending on the circumstances. She wants to clear the geopolitical space for herself, so she can only be interested in the Crimean Tatar Crimea, which will closely cooperate with Turkey, and in fact - if it becomes Turkish in the economic sense. Nothing else will be able to interest Ankara and encourage it to help Ukraine," the expert believes.
Kochetkov emphasizes that Kiev has no allies, and no EU country will go against Moscow, on which it depends to one degree or another, but will certainly "express deep concern." The only thing worth counting on is the supply of lethal weapons. The analyst sees the reason for the lack of allies in Kiev's policy.
"The task of the Ukrainian authorities is to make Ukraine an interesting partner for other countries of the world. But our government is only engaged in walking around and asking for money and help. Of course, we are asked at the same time what we offer in return. And we don't offer anything — we just ask and ask," he said.
On November 18, United States Defense Ministers Lloyd Austin and Ukraine Alexey Reznikov met in the United States. Following its results, the parties agreed to increase their military potential. The head of the Pentagon urged Reznikov to continue reforms, which are facilitated by US support.
On the same day, the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov assessed the consequences of a possible attempt to resolve the conflict by force in the Donbass. According to him, this would be a step towards another catastrophe.
Crimea returned to the Russian Federation following the results of the 2014 referendum. 96.77% of residents of the region and 95.6% of Sevastopol voters voted for joining. The procedure was carried out in accordance with international law. Meanwhile, Kiev considers the peninsula its temporarily occupied territory. Moscow has repeatedly stated that the issue of ownership of the subject is closed forever.
