Erdogan calls weapons supplied to Ukraine 'scrap metal'

Turkish president Recep Erdogan and Serbian president Alexander Buchich condemned Western policy toward Russia at a press conference in Belgrade. Erdogan called the West’s actions “provocation on all sides” and arms sent to Ukraine “trash,” according to Turkish news agency Anadolu.

Erdogan said the West’s position is mistaken and designed to provoke: “They declare their military support. But how many weapons sent to Ukraine are cast offs and scrap in the West? Can we say right now that one side is winning? No! In this war there is no victor but many losers. Large numbers of people are dying, and it's unseemly to talk about the financial side of it.”

Erdogan also mentioned the European energy crisis, wondering why leaders hadn’t planned ahead for the winter months, knowing that prices would skyrocket when Russia cut off supplies of natural gas.

Alexander Buchich agreed that the coming months will be very difficult for EU countries. TASS quoted the Serbian president saying that “this winter will be very cold in Europe, and the next one will be polar. Nobody is seeking a resolution, everyone expects the enemy to be defeated, rather than a compromise. If you really think it will be easy to serve Russia a military defeat, then we’ll just have to prepare for a cold and a polar winter.”