Volodymyr Zelenskiy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy held talks with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Istanbul on April 10, amid tensions between Kyiv and Moscow over a long-running conflict in Ukraine's eastern Donbass region.

Two U.S. warships will sail in the Black Sea, a Turkish Foreign Ministry official said on April 9, stressing that Washington notified Ankara 15 days ago through diplomatic channels in line with the Montreux Convention.

The warships will cross to the Black Sea separately on April 14-15 and then leave the sea on May 4-5, said the official on condition of anonymity.

Russia has more troops on Ukraine's eastern border than at any time since 2014, when it annexed Crimea and backed separatist territory seizures, and the United States is concerned by growing "Russian aggressions," the White House said on April 8.

The United States is discussing its concerns with its NATO allies, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told a briefing.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will visit eastern Ukraine on Thursday to assess the situation in the region following a rise in tension with Russia over a long-running conflict.

Russia announced the start of mass military drills, ratcheting up tensions with neighboring Ukraine amid Western concerns about the risk of renewed fighting.

More than 4,000 training exercises will be held in military districts across Russia in April, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday, in comments posted on the ministry's website.

Russia warned on April 1 that a serious escalation in the conflict in Donbass could "destroy" Ukraine as NATO voiced concern over what it said was a big Russian military build-up near eastern Ukraine.

President Katerina Sakellaropoulou discussed Ukraine's relations with the EU and NATO in a phone call with her Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday.

The two officials also talked about tackling the coronavirus pandemic and the prospects of rebooting tourism, as national vaccination programs are unfolding in both countries, her office said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will attend the eighth meeting of a high-level strategic council with Ukraine in its capital Kiev on Feb. 3.

The Turkish Communications Directorate on Feb. 2 announced that bilateral and regional issues would be discussed during the meeting between relevant ministers under Erdoğan and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy

Iran said on Jan. 11 it had mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian plane killing all 176 aboard and voiced deep regret, after initially denying it brought down the aircraft in the tense aftermath of Iranian missile strikes on U.S. targets in Iraq.

Iranian investigators said on Jan. 9 the crew members of the Ukrainian jetliner that crashed the previous day never made a radio call for help and were trying to turn back to the airport when the plane went down.

Iran's civil aviation authority made the comments in a preliminary crash report a day after the crash of the Ukrainian jetliner that killed all 176 people on board.