Five Black Sea countries and Poland call for a ceasefire in Ukraine

Turkish defense chief says virtual meeting with Bulgarian, Polish, Romanian, Ukrainian, Georgian defense ministers was productive

Turkiye’s national defense minister on Thursday attended a virtual meeting with the defense ministers of Bulgaria, Georgia, Poland, Romania and Ukraine.

Hulusi Akar met with Bulgaria’s Dragomir Zakov, Poland’s Mariusz Błaszczak, Romania’s Vasile Dincu, Ukraine’s Oleksii Reznikov and Georgia’s Juansher Burchuladze at a six-party virtual meeting.

Akar said that the meeting was very productive.

At the meeting, Akar said the importance of an urgent cease-fire in Ukraine, a diplomatic solution to the crisis, and the urgency of safe evacuation of civilians were stressed.

Touching on other issues discussed at the meeting, Akar said: “During the meeting, the importance of cooperation for the preservation of peace, tranquility and stability in the Black Sea, including disposal of naval mines, was emphasized once again. Finally, due to the aggravated humanitarian situation, uninterrupted humanitarian aid and measures to be taken to prevent further escalation of the crisis in the region were emphasized. “