President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday that Turkey will not accept the illegal annexation of Crimea.

Axar.az reports citing Anadolu Agency.

After meeting his Ukrainian counterpart in Ankara, Erdogan told a joint press conference: “Continuation of our kinsmen's existence in their historical motherland Crimea, protection of their identity and culture, preservation of their basic rights and freedoms are Turkey's priorities.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Russia to act within international laws.

He stressed that Crimea belonged to Ukraine and said his country and Russia would find a common path to re-establish peace and stability in the region.

He described Turkey as a “good neighbor, sincere friend and important strategic partner,” in highlighting Turkey’s importance to relations with Ukraine.

Zelensky said he wanted to make his country a “center of attraction” for foreign investors through economic and trade reforms.

”I would like to invite the Turkish business world to Ukraine,” said Zelensky and he guaranteed a comfortable work environment.

The Ukrainian leader is in Turkey for a two-day-visit.

The Eastern European country held snap parliamentary elections last month after Zelensky, a former popular comedian, dissolved parliament, Verkhovna Rada, during his swearing-in ceremony in May.

The elections did not take place in Crimea, a peninsula on the northern Black Sea coast illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, or in eastern Ukraine, which is currently under the control of pro-Russian rebels.