Turkey’s Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli.
Ankara has been in close cooperation with Ukraine in several areas, Turkey’s agriculture and forestry minister said on Tuesday.
"We are in close cooperation with Ukraine at all levels in areas of trade, investment, tourism and defense industry," Bekir Pakdemirli said at Ukrainian-Turkish Agriculture Business Forum in the capital Kiev.
Pakdemirli said Turkey wants to enhance bilateral relations with Ukraine in any field, particularly in economy.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Monday submitted a bill to parliament on the termination of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership with Russia.Bill No. 0206 was presented to the Verkhovna Rada, or Ukrainian parliament, by presidential representative Iryna Lutsenko.Lutsenko said she hoped the deputies would back the move.The Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership with Russia was ratified in 1998. The deal automatically renews every decade unless one side advises the other of its intention to end the agreement.Tensions have flared between Kiev and Moscow over Russia’s seizure of three Ukrainian naval ships and their crews on Nov. 25.Some Ukrainian politicians have suggested the move was the prelude to a wider Russian invasion.Kremlin calls absurd accusation it has designs on Ukrainian sea ports
Poroshenko submits bill to end friendship treaty with Russia to Ukrainian parliament
The bilateral trade volume between the two countries was $3.5 billion in 2017, he said, adding: "Agricultural trade includes $1.104 billion part of it."
The minister asserted that the countries should strive more to reach targeted bilateral trade volume of $10 billion.
"It is also important for our cooperation to take part together in the EU market through increasing mutual investments in agriculture," Pakdemirli said.
The Kremlin on Monday called absurd a Ukrainian accusation it has designs on the Ukrainian ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk in order to create a land corridor between Russian-annexed Crimea and eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists.As tensions between Kiev and Moscow have risen over Russia's seizure of three Ukrainian naval ships and their crews on Nov. 25, some Ukrainian politicians have suggested the move was the prelude to a wider Russian invasion."It's an absurd statement," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "It's another attempt to generate tension."
Kremlin calls absurd accusation it has designs on Ukrainian sea ports