Turkey ready to send troops to Ukraine if necessary, source says

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo of Turkish service members (AA photo via Daily Sabah)

ANKARA (Reuters) -     Turkey, with the second largest army in NATO after the United States, could contribute to a potential peacekeeping mission in Ukraine, a Turkish defence ministry source said on Wednesday.

"The issue of contributing to a mission will be considered if deemed necessary for establishing regional stability and peace, and will be assessed mutually with all relevant parties," the source told reporters in Ankara.

Europe's main military powers Britain and France have already discussed deploying troops in a potential force to monitor a ceasefire in Ukraine after a future peace deal, while Washington has said it would not send Americans.

Ukraine says any peace agreement would require a robust force on the ground to provide security guarantees; Moscow has rejected any deployment of NATO member forces, although U.S. President Donald Trump says he believes Russia might agree.

The Turkish source, requesting anonymity, said discussions on a Turkish deployment remained conceptual, with no concrete decisions yet made.

"The concept has not yet been clearly defined."

If Turkey were to deploy troops, the source emphasised that a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia would first need to be declared, and initial deployments should involve non-combatant units to monitor the ceasefire. 

Turkish media reported last week that President Tayyip Erdogan had discussed a possible deployment with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during separate meetings in Ankara last month.

Turkey has maintained cordial relations with both Russia and Ukraine throughout their war, though it is historically a rival of Moscow, backing forces who defeated Russia's allies in Syria and Azerbaijan since 2023.

Turkey has refrained from joining Western sanctions against Russia and has mediated past agreements between Kyiv and Moscow, such as a deal to allow Ukrainian exports of grain from the Black Sea.

 (Reporting by Ece Toksabay; Editing by Jonathan Spicer and Peter Graff)