Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko held talks with President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov of Turkmenistan Thursday as he pressed a diplomatic drive for recognition of Ukraine's territorial integrity in a region dominated by arch-rival Russia. Poroshenko's visit to Turkmen capital Ashgabat follows a visit to Kazakhstan earlier this month as Kiev seeks to strengthen ties with the region following 18 months of pro-Russian separatist violence in eastern Ukraine.
"We are grateful for the principled position of Turkmenistan's support for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Ukraine," said Poroshenko at a meeting where the pair affirmed support for international norms on the inviolability of borders and non-intervention. Berdymukhamedov, who noted Ukraine's investment of almost $3.5 billion (3.2 billion euros) to date in the isolated Central Asian country, said his gas-rich ex-Soviet nation also stood ready to increase fuel exports to Kiev, but did not provide details.
The pair signed 10 bilateral documents covering co-operation in industry, agriculture, tourism and education. Officially neutral Turkmenistan is the only country in Central Asia that is not a member of any Moscow-backed regional organisations. Despite the region's generally pro-Moscow political orientation, none of the five states in the ex-Soviet region which gained independence in 1991 have formally recognised Crimea as part of Russia following the Kremlin's annexation of the peninsula last year.