Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday criticized the West for its “provocation-based policy” toward Russia.
“I say to those who underestimate Russia, you are doing it wrong. Russia is not a country that can be underestimated,” Erdoğan said at a press conference in Belgrade, Serbia, per translations in the news outlet Anadolu Agency.
“I can clearly say that I do not find the attitude of the West [toward Russia] right. Because there is a West that follows a policy based on provocation,” he added.
The Turkish president noted that he doesn’t see an end in sight to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which has now waged on for more than half a year.
Erdoğan maintained Wednesday that the country is following a “balanced foreign policy between Russia and Ukraine,” according to video and translations from TRT World.
Earlier this year, Turkey resisted NATO membership bids from Finland and Sweden, a unity move for the alliance in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Turkey also worked with Putin to facilitate exports through the blockaded Black Sea.
The government of Greece recently asked NATO, the European Union and the United Nations to formally condemn aggressive rhetoric from Turkey as tensions between the neighboring countries heighten.