Naryshkin appreciated the decision of Turkey to transfer the leaders of “Azov” to Ukraine

The transfer of the commanders of the Ukrainian battalion “Azov” (recognized as terrorist in Russia and banned) to Ukraine characterizes Turkey “badly”. About it declared TASS Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) of Russia Sergey Naryshkin.

Naryshkin assessed Turkey’s decision to transfer the leaders of this organization to Kyiv as a “failure to fulfill obligations” on the part of Ankara.

“This does not characterize the Turkish side well,” he said, adding that after the transfer of the Azov commanders, the SVR had no contacts with Turkey on this issue.

On July 7, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky visited Istanbul, where he met with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Later, Zelensky announced his return to Ukraine, along with five Azov commanders who ended up in Turkey in the fall of 2022 as a result of a prisoner-of-war exchange between Kiev and Moscow. It was originally planned that the Azov commanders would remain in Turkey until the end of the conflict in Ukraine.

Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov declaredthat such a step violates the agreements on the part of Kyiv and Ankara. According to him, Turkey was “forced” to take such a step on the eve of the NATO summit, which is being held in Vilnius on July 11-12. Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security Viktor Bondarev notedthat in this way Türkiye continues to turn from a neutral country into an unfriendly one.