Former Turkish Foreign Minister Yakysh: the likelihood of a conflict between Russia and NATO in Ukraine is low
Photo: Murad Sezer / Reuters
Former Turkish Foreign Minister Yashar Yakysh assessed the likelihood of a hot phase of the conflict between Russia and NATO in Ukraine. RIA Novosti reports.
While even a small spark can lead to wider conflict in times of high tension, he said, the likelihood of a heated conflict between Moscow and the alliance is low. “Because in a sense it means the beginning of the Third World War,” the former minister stressed.
Yakish also said that despite Turkey's participation in the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), which is NATO's main rapid reaction force, Ankara manages to maintain good relations with Russia by dividing them into segments. Thus, he explained that Ankara and Moscow were able to take measures so that difficult relations in one area would not negatively affect good relations in another. For example, this was achieved in Libya and partly in Idlib, the ex-head of the Turkish Foreign Ministry added.
Earlier, Bloomberg, citing an unnamed Turkish official, reported that Turkey would not come into conflict with Moscow on the side of Kiev in the event of hostilities on the border of the two countries. The interlocutor of the American publication said that Ankara will not support Kiev even though it is a NATO member and is actively developing military cooperation with Ukraine, including in the form of the sale of Bayraktar TB2 drones.
