VLADIVOSTOK, September 6. /TASS/. While Russia and Turkey have disagreements over Ukraine, Moscow continues to patiently convey its arguments on the issue to Ankara, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview to Izvestia on Tuesday.
"We have disagreements on some issues, and these disagreements primarily concern Ukraine. We don’t agree with the position taken by Turkey on Ukrainian affairs, but we patiently continue to convey to our Turkish partners our arguments and what we are sure of and what we are convinced of," he told the newspaper on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum.
Peskov, who graduated in 1989 from the Institute of Asian and African Countries of the Lomonosov Moscow State University and is a Turkologist, called Ankara an important partner of Moscow. "Turkey is a friendly country for us, it’s our very important partner, both in political affairs from the standpoint of international politics and in terms of trade and economic cooperation. We know that Turkey hasn’t joined the illegal anti-Russian sanctions. Turkey is pursuing what is effectively a sovereign, independent foreign policy," the spokesman went on to say.
According to him, this allows the two countries to continue interaction, "based on the principles of mutual respect for each other's interests and mutual benefit."
"The potential is huge, it’s far from being fully tapped yet," Peskov noted. "So, yes, there are disagreements, but the potential for cooperation is much broader."