SpaceWar.com reports: “Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Thursday against conflict between NATO and Russia, telling an alliance summit aimed at bolstering Ukraine that diplomacy must also be an option.

The summit in Washington produced announcements including F-16 transfers to Ukraine and a US plan to deploy long-range missiles in Germany, with Russia warning of a response to the ‘very serious threat’ from NATO.

‘I shared my views candidly here that NATO should never be allowed to be a party to the war in Ukraine,’ Erdogan told a news conference after the 75th anniversary summit.

Erdogan said that Turkey, a rare NATO member not to join sanctions on Russia, supported the ‘territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.’

‘I also emphasized that diplomacy should not be excluded and that negotiations do not necessarily mean surrendering,’ he said…”