MOSCOW, 18 Aug. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with his visit to Ukraine, wants to strengthen Ankara's position in this country. The Independent writes about this. As noted in the article, the West is nervous about Turkey's attempts to improve relations with Russia, but Ukraine can appreciate Erdogan's role as a negotiator. «He positions himself as a regional statesman who can talk with world leaders. He is in unique position — geographically, diplomatically and strategically. <…> Erdogan plays a role that, I think, even the UN Secretary General cannot play, «Kyiv expert Mikhail Botsyurkiv believes. The Turkish leader met on Thursday with President Volodymyr Zelensky and the UN Secretary General António Guterres in Lvov. The Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure reported that the heads of the two countries signed a memorandum on assistance from Turkey in restoring infrastructure. to UkraineAccording to the deputy head of the International Committee of the Federation Council Vladimir Dzhabarov, Ankara, having concluded an agreement on the reconstruction of the republic, is in a little hurry, since the Russian special operation continues and it is not clear with which leadership of Ukraine Turkey is going to fulfill the agreements. Russia has been conducting a military operation since February 24 to liberate Donbass from nationalists . Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» The Ministry of Defense reported that the army had already completed the main tasks of the first stage — significantly reduced the combat potential of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. after his statement about the capture of the Crimea
