ISTANBUL (AP) – Delegates of Ukraine and Russia had to separate after a brawl broke out at a meeting of the Black Sea nations in Turkey’s capital Ankara.
Ukrainian parliamentarian Oleksandr Malikovsky delivered several blows to the head of a Russian official after the Ukrainian flag was ripped from his hand at a summit in Turkey’s parliament .
A video posted on Malikovsky’s Facebook page shows Malikovsky waving the flag behind Russia international Ola Timofeeva as she records the video on her mobile phone. A man approaches, grabs the flag, followed by Malikovsky.
During a brief altercation in the parliamentary corridors, Malikovsky grabbed a flag and poked a man in the face. Others pull the men apart, begging them to stop fighting. Malikovsky replied:
“This is our flag. We will fight for this flag.”
Malikovsky wrote in the caption of his Facebook video:
“Kick off the dirt on our flag, Ukraine and Russia!”
The outbreak occurred in the parliamentary assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, a group of 13 countries. It comes a day before Russian, Ukrainian and Turkish officials are scheduled to meet in Istanbul to discuss the extension of an agreement on the export of grain and fertilizers through Black Sea ports, which expires on May 18.
The deal, first agreed last July, allowed cargo ships to safely transport millions of tons of food across the Black Sea for export despite the war in Ukraine.
Thursday’s summit was interrupted when a Ukrainian delegation interrupted Timofeeva’s speech to the rally and waved Ukrainian yellow and blue flags by her side. Turkey’s parliamentary speaker, Mustafa Semp, condemned “provocative and physically aggressive behavior by some members of the Ukrainian parliamentary delegation” in a Twitter post. He added:“We condemn this action that disturbs the peaceful environment that Turkey seeks to achieve.”
