KIEV, April 10. /TASS/. Ukraine’s and Turkey’s views on security threats in the Black Sea region and response options are identical, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said on Saturday after talks with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in Istanbul.
"We thoroughly discussed the issue of security and joint response to threats in the Black Sea region. I would like to note that Kiev’s vision and Ankara’s visions about the threats and about the ways of responding to these threats are identical," he told a news conference broadcast on the presidential office’s Facebook account.
Zelensky stressed that Turkey’s support on issues of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity was very important for his country.
He also said that the situation in Donbass and the issue of Crimea had been among the topics of the talks with the Turkish leader. He thanked the Turkish side for its readiness to take part in the work of the Crimean Platform, the founding summit of which is scheduled to be held in Kiev on August 23. In his words, "it will be strong signal that Ukraine and its partners are determined on the issue of the de-occupation of the Ukrainian peninsula and protection of the rights of Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians."
Zelensky and a Ukrainian delegation paid a one-day visit to Turkey on Saturday. They held talks and took part in the 9th meeting of the High-Level Strategic Council. A joint declaration and a number of bilateral documents were signed.
The Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, a city with a special status on the Crimean Peninsula, where most residents are Russians, refused to recognize the legitimacy of authorities brought to power amid riots during a coup in Ukraine in February 2014.
Crimea and Sevastopol adopted declarations of independence on March 11, 2014. They held a referendum on March 16, 2014, in which 96.77% of Crimeans and 95.6% of Sevastopol voters chose to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the reunification treaties on March 18, 2014. The documents were ratified by Russia’s Federal Assembly, or bicameral parliament, on March 21. Ukraine keeps on refusing to recognize Crimea as part of Russia.