MOSCOW, July 10. /TASS/. Russia expects clarifications form Ankara regarding Turkey’s recent handover of Azov nationalist battalion (outlawed in Russia) commanders to Kiev, as this contradicts an existing agreement, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.
"Indeed, the return of the Azov leaders violates an existing agreement, and we will discuss this issue with Turkey and, in fact, we have already started talks on this issue," Peskov told a news briefing.
Peskov noted that the Russian and Turkish foreign ministers had already held a telephone conversation on this issue and "there is certainly more contact to follow at other levels as well."
"It is extremely important that, unlike a number of states from the so-called collective West, Turkey maintains a dialogue with us and supports it at the highest levels," Peskov said. "We will be employing these channels for the dialogue, primarily to explain our stance, and will certainly be taking into account the current situation while concluding future agreements in various spheres."
In October 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin put forward the idea of creating a gas hub in Turkey, where the lost volume of transit through Nord Stream could be redirected. The Turkish side noted that almost everything is ready in terms of infrastructure for the implementation of the project, but it requires amendments to the legislation.
On Saturday, President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky said that he was returning to the country along with five commanders of the Azov national battalion who had previously been staying in Turkey. Prior to that, on Friday, he met with Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan.
On Sunday, the situation with the return of the Azov commanders to Kiev was discussed over the phone by Russian and Turkish Foreign Ministers Sergey Lavrov and Hakan Fidan.
According to the Russian ministry, during the conversation, which took place at Turkey’s initiative, the parties reaffirmed the need to "preserve and strengthen the trusting nature of relations between Moscow and Ankara," discussed "recent events around Ukraine" and prospects for cooperation in ensuring global food security "in the context of the inability of Western states" to carry out the grain deal.