Turkey says will not allow 'breaching' of US sanctions on Russia amid war in Ukraine

While the US continues to impose sanctions on Russia for its 'unjustified' invasion of Ukraine, Turkey asserted that it would not permit the "breaching" of American sanctions on Moscow, however, its "balanced" position on the war in Kyiv "will not alter". This was told by the Deputy Finance Minister of Turkey, Yunus Elitas to Wally Adeyemo, the Deputy Secretary of the US Treasury. These remarks by Elitas come weeks after a Financial Times report stated that Western authorities are "alarmed" by Ankara's increasing commercial connections with Russia and are considering means to respond if these ties would help Russia evade sanctions by the European Union and the United States, RT reported.  

During the telephonic conversation on Friday with the Turkish Deputy Finance Minister, Adeyemo expressed concern that Russian organisations and individuals may be trying to use Turkey to avoid sanctions imposed by the US and 30 other countries. According to a readout of the call from the US Treasury Department on Friday, “He reiterated the United States’ interest in the success of the Turkish economy and expressed the Treasury’s commitment to its partnership with the Government of Türkiye to protect the integrity of its banking sector.”   

Furthermore, Adeyemo spoke with Yunus Elitas on the ongoing initiatives to put into effect and enforce the extensive multilateral sanctions placed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. 

Turkey acts as a "mediator" between Russia and Ukraine amid the war

Meanwhile, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the President of Turkey, has repeatedly referred to his position on the crisis in Ukraine as "balanced." According to the RT report, Turkey is the only North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member that has neither imposed penalties on Moscow nor blocked Russian planes from using its airspace. However, amid the ongoing conflict, Erdogan has established himself as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine. In March, Turkey held  discussions on peace that were eventually unsuccessful but subsequently assisted in negotiating a deal to restore grain supplies across the Black Sea to international markets. 

On August 18, Turkey and Ukraine signed a pact for the restoration of Ukrainian infrastructure that had been destroyed by the continuing Russian military action. Following a trilateral meeting in Lviv, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Erdogan, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the agreement was signed. After a three-way discussion between the leaders, Mehmet Mus, the Turkish minister of trade, and Oleksandr Kubrakov, the Ukrainian minister of infrastructure, signed the deal. 

Earlier this month, after Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin's meeting, Ankara and Moscow decided to increase their bilateral trade to $100 billion by the year 2030 and collaborate on energy projects and counterterrorism initiatives. While Turkey continues to import Russian oil and gas, Erdogan and Putin decided that Turkey will use rubles to pay for part of its Russian gas purchases, RT reported.  

(Image: AP)