Ukraine, Turkey to cooperate in new formats for de-occupation of Crimea

Ukraine and Turkey have agreed on the inadmissibility of Russia's actions in Crimea, which actually turns the peninsula into a military base, and expressed their intention to coordinate efforts to de-occupy Crimea.

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko said this at the joint press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday.

"We discussed in detail the situation in the occupied Crimea and emphasized the unacceptability of the fact that Crimea has been militarized and actually turned into a military base as a result of the temporary occupation. I and Mr. President [Erdogan] called for the joint efforts which will be focused on de-occupation of Crimea. To this end, we plan to unite efforts within the framework of international organizations as well as on the basis of new international formats, including the "Geneva plus" format involving the Budapest Memorandum guarantors, Turkey and Ukraine," President Poroshenko said.

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