Peskov said that the transfer of the leaders of “Azov” to Ukraine will not affect the gas hub

The transfer of the commanders of the Ukrainian Azov battalion (recognized as terrorist in Russia and banned) to Ukraine will not affect the trade and economic relations between Russia and Turkey, including the creation of a gas hub, but with the following agreements, Moscow will take into account the incident. This was announced by the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov.

“I repeat once again: we intend to continue our relations with the Republic of Turkey. They are truly versatile. And we will continue mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation. <...> But of course, in the course of our dialogue, we expect to receive explanations from the Turkish side about what happened and we will take this into account, I repeat once again, with the next agreements,” he said.

Peskov stressed that Russia plans to further develop such projects as a gas hub in relations with Turkey, “which actually affects the interests of a very large number of countries in the region, and even European countries.” Peskov noted that despite the transfer of the leaders of Azov to the Ukrainian side, work on the development of the gas hub will continue.

The fighters and commanders of the Ukrainian battalion ended up in Turkey in the fall of 2022. Then Moscow and Kyiv, through the mediation of Ankara, exchanged prisoners of war. According to Ukraine, Russia handed over 215 people to Ukraine, including over a hundred fighters and five Azov commanders, as well as ten mercenaries. Russia was transferred, including Ukrainian businessman and politician Viktor Medvedchuk.

As President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky previously reported, the Azov commanders who returned from captivity will remain in Turkey until the end of hostilities in Ukraine. However, on July 7, Zelensky visited Istanbul, where he met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Zelenskiy later announced his return to Ukraine, along with five Azov commanders.

Work on the creation of a gas hub in Turkey has been underway since October 2022. On October 12, Russian President Vladimir Putin came up with the idea of ​​​​creating it. He noted that the falling volumes of gas transportation to the EU could be transferred from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. Later, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed that he had agreed with the Russian leader to build a hub.