Turkey restricted the passage of warships through the Turkish Straits at the beginning of the war between Ukraine and Russia by implementing the Montreux Convention, and no warship has passed through the straits since then, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Wednesday.

Akar spoke after a NATO meeting on the Ukraine war hosted by the United States at the U.S. air base in Ramstein, Germany.

Stating that they held the defense and security consultation meeting for Ukraine with representatives of more than 40 countries, Akar noted that they exchanged views with some names, especially Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov.

Turkey has been closely following the developments in Ukraine, Akar said. "We are following the developments with concern. According to the news received, there are some troublesome situations. Like all countries, we are making various efforts to eliminate them. Generally speaking, dialogue and a restrained approach are important. We need to open the way for diplomacy with a moderate approach. Thus, we consider that more peaceful solutions can be found."

Akar stated that they had the opportunity to share Turkey's perspective on events once again at the meeting and added: "As Turkey, our president (Recep Tayyip Erdoğan) has had an attitude that we have put forward at the ministerial level from the very beginning. At the beginning of the crisis, we carried out very serious and comprehensive studies to prevent war and to ensure a cease-fire as soon as possible after the war broke out. Russian and Ukrainian ministers were brought together at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum. Then there are the meetings that our president had many times with Mr. Putin and Mr. Zelenskyy. In these meetings, our president is making an effort to come to the table so that the cease-fire can be reached as soon as possible."

"Although there are some difficulties, we are hopeful, with the proposals of our president, perhaps it will be possible for the two leaders to come together in the coming days. As Turkey, we continue to contribute to whatever needs to be done, including mediation, so that the humanitarian situation that is getting worse and worse is not further worsened and a cease-fire is reached as soon as possible."

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