ISTANBUL, 19 January 2022, (TON): Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Russia against invading Ukraine, calling the former Soviet republic a powerful country with international friends.

Turkey’s supply of combat drones to Ukraine has drawn the wrath of Russia, which fears they could be used by Kyiv in its years-long conflict in two regions of the Moscow-backed separatist east.

Speaking to Turkish reporters in Albania, Erdogan said “he intended to discuss the rising tensions with Russian President Vladimir Putin.”

Turkish media quoted Erdogan as saying “you cannot handle these things by saying ‘I will invade something, I will take it.”

Erdogan, who backs Ukraine’s NATO aspirations said “I don’t see Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a realistic option because it is not an ordinary country. Ukraine is a powerful country.”

In December, Putin criticised Ukraine for deploying Turkish attack drones, urging Ankara to put pressure on Kyiv not to use the military hardware, which has played a key role in conflicts in Libya and over Azerbaijan’s separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh.