Ukraine uses Turkish drones to threaten Russia
Kiev has bought Turkish combat drones to make Russia "think twice" about attacking Ukraine, the country's Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said in an interview.
"Drones are needed to restrain Russia, making it think twice before planning any escalation or large-scale attack on Ukraine...".
Mr Kuleba added that Ukraine bought weapons "to protect itself".
"If Russia attacks and engages in a large-scale military conflict with us, we will use drones in any area of Ukrainian territory to protect ourselves," Kuleba added in response to a question about whether Ukraine would use UAVs in Donbass.
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| Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 armed drone. Source: Savunmahaber. |
At the same time, Ukraine's foreign minister complained that Russia appeared to be trying to prevent other countries from selling arms to Kiev.
Kuleba also praised the qualityof Turkish drones and announced plans to equip these UAVs with Ukrainian engines and localize production.
Earlier, the Turkish UAV manufacturer Baykar told Sputnik about Kiev's purchase of the Bayraktar combat drone. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that such information was not funny. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu assured that the deal was not aimed at Russia.
Relations between Moscow and Kiev deteriorated amid the situation in Donbass following the coup in Ukraine in February 2014. The Ukrainian government has repeatedly accused Russia of interfering in its internal affairs.
In January 2015, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) adopted a declaration that Russia is an "aggressor state". Moscow denies Ukraine's accusations and calls them unacceptable. Russia has repeatedly stated that it is not a party to the internal conflict in Ukraine and wants Ukraine to overcome its economic and political crisis.
