KIEV (Ruptly) — Syrian government forces launched deadly airstrikes against Turkey killing eight people including civilians, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a press conference in Kiev on Monday.

During this press conference, the Turkish leader declared:

Unfortunately this morning, the [Syrian] regime once again conducted airstrikes in Idlib and following these airstrikes, eight people have been killed — three civilians and five soldiers. Of course, we said “this just can’t happen” and in this regard, it was retaliation.

He went on to condemn Russia for “turning a blind eye” to such attacks from the Syrian side, concluding “Strictly speaking, Turkey has around 4 mln Syrian refugees, 3.5 of which are from the border areas.”

His Ukrainian counterpart Volodimyr Zelensky spoke about the financial support Kiev will be provided with. “The Ukrainian army will receive financial help from our Turkish partners. We are really grateful for it”, he said.

Erdogan arrived in Kiev on Monday for talks with Zelensky. Following the negotiations, the two have signed a statement on the priorities for the development of their future bilateral partnership.