Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler met with his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov in Ankara on Friday.
Guler received his Ukrainian counterpart in a military ceremony, according to a statement from the Turkish Ministry of National Defense.
On Thursday, a launching ceremony for a Ukrainian corvette was held in Istanbul.
“Today in Istanbul, together with the First Lady of Ukraine Olena Volodymyrivna Zelenska, I took part in the launching of the Ukrainian corvette ‘Hetman Ivan Vyhovskyi’,” Umerov told X.
“The corvettes Hetman Ivan Vyhovskyi and Hetman Ivan Mazepa, which were built in Turkey due to Russian aggression, are equipped with state-of-the-art weapons and will be an important addition to our fleet, increasing Ukraine’s defense capability,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry added.
Turkey also ratified a free trade agreement with Ukraine.
The deal was signed on February 3, 2022, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan approved the agreement on Thursday.
The volume of bilateral trade between Turkey and Ukraine amounts to $7.3 billion in 2023, Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat said on Thursday.
The main areas of trade between the two countries are steel-iron, machinery, energy, automobiles and grains.
