The divide within the ranks of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), the US led military alliance, glared in the open after key member Turkey declared that it will not impose sanctions against Russia as mandated by the grouping.
Speaking at a diplomatic forum in Antalya, Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu declared that Ankara will not join the sanctions that have been imposed by western countries due to Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
"We believe that the sanctions will not resolve the problem," he said when asked about Turkey’s stance regarding sanctions against Russia. "Take the airspace. In accordance with the Montreux Convention, we have no power to close it. This is a legal obligation," he said as quoted by Tass, the Russian news agency.
Cavusoglu’s remarks flew in the face of the exhortation by NATO’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on the side-lines of the forum that the NATO alliance expected all its members to impose restrictions on Moscow.
The war with Ukraine has exposed a sharp divide in the international system where the US-led Atlantic alliance has failed to force the major emerging economies including India, China and South Africa and now Turkey to fall in line. These countries, opting for neutrality, are also part of the G-20 grouping comprising developed and emerging economies.
Turkey has repeatedly said it had no intent to partner sanctions against Russia, to prevent harm to its economy, and allow room to keep open the dialogue with Russia. At the forum in Antalya, the Turkish foreign minister has already hosted a face-to-face meeting earlier this month **between Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba.
While France and Germany, two NATO members have been actively playing a diplomatic role, it is Israel, which is not part of the security alliance which has already stood out for mediating to end the war.
The Jerusalem Post is reporting that Russia has been open to talks with Ukraine in Jerusalem, the daily said quoting a senior diplomatic source. The possibility of Jerusalem as the possible venue for a dialogue emerged on Saturday, after Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had spoken on the phone.
Earlier Zelensky said at a news conference that “at present it's not constructive to hold meetings in Russia, Ukraine, or Belarus. These are not the places where we can agree to stop the war… Do I consider Israel, Jerusalem in particular, to be such a place? I think the answer is yes."
Also Read: Why has Israel decided to mediate big-time in the Ukraine-Russia conflict?
