"Russians are upset and from time to time they are complaining about the drone sales. They used to complain and they are complaining right now," the bureaucrat said at a meeting with foreign media," according to Reuters.
"But we have already given the answer ... that these are private companies and these drone purchases had been done before the war as well," he added.
Turkey has forged close ties with Russia in energy, defense and trade, and relies heavily on Russian tourists. The Turkish defense firm Baykar had sold the drones to Kyiv despite Russian objections and signed a deal to co-produce more before the invasion, angering Moscow.
Reuters has previously reported that Ukraine bought defense equipment from Turkey in the first quarter of this year, almost 30 times more than in the same period last year.
In recent years, Ukraine has purchased more than 20 TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) from Turkey, and on January 27 ordered 16 more, which were delivered in early March.
MP/PR
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