Turkey, Ukraine Sign Free-Trade, Drone Deals as Erdogan Visits Kyiv

Turkey and Ukraine signed a free-trade agreement on Thursday and finalized a deal for Ukraine to manufacture Turkish armed drones, in a show of cooperation between the two countries as Russia continued to mass troops on Ukraine’s borders.

The visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the latest in a string of foreign leaders flocking to Kyiv this week, was part of his effort to broker a solution to the crisis while asserting Turkey’s role as an aspiring power. The trip also shored up global backing for Ukraine in the face of a continuing Russian troop buildup and an escalating war of words between Moscow and the West.

 “We will continue to support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, including Crimea,” a region annexed by Russia in 2014, Mr. Erdogan said after the signing ceremony in Kyiv’s Mariinsky Palace. He offered, once again, to facilitate a summit in Ankara involving Russia and Ukraine: “Turkey is ready to do everything for this crisis between two neighboring countries to end.”

The visit was high on symbolism. Exiting the ornate palace, Mr. Erdogan turned to the Ukrainian honor guard flanking his path and said, in Ukrainian: “Glory to Ukraine!” The honor guard delivered the customary response: “Glory to heroes!”

The Ukrainian crisis presents Turkey with a balancing act. On one hand, the Turkish economy depends on Russian gas and Russian tourists, and Russia is building Turkey’s first nuclear reactor. Turkish troops in Syria can only operate as long as their presence is tolerated by Russia, which has air superiority there. Yet, an independent Ukraine is seen in Ankara as a strategically important bulwark that prevents Russia from completely dominating the neighborhood. The two nations have longstanding trade and military links.

Bilateral trade between Ankara and Kyiv has grown sharply in recent years, jumping 60% in 2021 from a year earlier to $7.5 billion. The free-trade agreement signed during Mr. Erdogan’s visit to Kyiv aims to increase bilateral trade to $10 billion, the Turkish president said.

In the joint briefing, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the agreement to expand manufacturing facilities for Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones in Ukraine. “These are new technologies, new workplaces, and an increase in Ukraine’s ability to defend itself,” he said.

The drones proved a game-changer in Azerbaijan’s war against Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020, and Ukraine used a Bayraktar to strike Russian-backed forces in the eastern Donbas region last fall.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said a new plant under construction near Kyiv will equip the drones with Ukrainian-made engines. He also announced a new training center to teach Ukrainian service members to operate the drones.

Mr. Erdogan’s visit to Ukraine comes after months in which his approval ratings have plummeted due to economic turmoil that caused the national currency to lose some 40% of its value in 2021. Inflation surged to nearly 49% in January, Turkey’s highest rate since 2002 and currently one of the highest in the world.

Turkey’s decision in 2017 to buy the S-400 air-defense system from Russia incurred American sanctions on Ankara and a rupture within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that the allies are still attempting to resolve. Mr. Erdogan has threatened to buy more weapons from Russia even as his government is negotiating possible arms deals with the U.S.

In recent months, however, Mr. Erdogan made efforts to mend ties with the U.S. and repair strained relations with regional rivals Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Israel. Those efforts, along with his Ukraine initiative, could help improve his domestic political image, those familiar with his thinking say.

“All this is prompted by Erdogan’s need to show the Turkish public that Turkey is a regional, even a global power,” said a former senior Turkish official. “The Ukraine mediation effort is another link in the chain.”

Turkey isn’t the only nation attempting to help defuse the crisis between Russia and Ukraine. France and Germany are sponsoring talks on reviving the 2015 Minsk-2 agreement on the status of Donbas. After a meeting in Paris last week, another was scheduled for next week in Berlin.

On Thursday, Ukraine’s chief negotiator, Mr. Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak, who was due to attend, said he had tested positive for Covid-19. “Very bad timing, but I continue to work,” he wrote on Facebook. “Next week will be very important.” Mr. Yermak didn’t make clear whether he will be able to attend the Berlin event.

Both Ukraine and Russia have welcomed the Turkish president’s mediation efforts. The Kremlin though has been noncommittal about entering talks sought by Mr. Erdogan. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week that Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted an invitation from Mr. Erdogan to visit Turkey for talks on the Ukraine crisis “as the epidemiological situation and schedules allow”— suggesting that no such trip would occur in the immediate future.

“I don’t think this is a realistic offer, and I am sure Russia will not accept this,” said Aydin Sezer, a former Turkish diplomat who served in Turkey’s embassy in Moscow.