The Kremlin will continue dialogue with Turkey after the return of the leaders of “Azov”

The Kremlin hopes that the development of Turkey’s relations with other countries will not be directed against Russia. This was stated by the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov.

Peskov noted that Russia and Turkey have “quite close, developed, multifaceted and mutually beneficial relations”, the countries maintain contacts at different levels. Over the weekend, for example, the foreign ministers had a telephone conversation.

“There are certain issues on which we have disagreements. At the same time, as a modern state, Turkey has the absolute right to develop relations with any country, including Ukraine. But, of course, being partners with Turkey, we want to hope that the development of these relations will not be directed against us, ”Peskov answered the question of how the Kremlin assesses the strengthening of relations between Kiev and Ankara.

The presidential press secretary specified that Moscow would discuss with the Turkish side the return of the leaders of Azov, as “this is a violation of existing agreements.” “As we, in fact, have already begun to do. It is very important that, unlike a number of countries, the so-called collective West, Turkey maintains a dialogue with us and, moreover, maintains it at a high, top level,” Peskov added.

Russia will continue to use the channels of dialogue to explain the country’s position. Moscow will also “take this situation into account in the following agreements in various areas,” Peskov stressed.

On July 7, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky visited Istanbul, where he met with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Zelensky later announced his return to Ukraine, along with five Azov commanders who ended up in Turkey in the fall of 2022 after a prisoner-of-war exchange between Russia and Ukraine. Earlier, Zelensky reported that the Azov commanders who returned from captivity would remain in Turkey until the end of hostilities in Ukraine.

Peskov said earlier that such a move violates agreements between Kyiv and Ankara. At the same time, according to him, Turkey was “forced” to take such a step on the eve of the NATO summit, which will be held in Vilnius on July 11-12.

On July 10, Minister for Strategic Industries of Ukraine Oleksandr Kamyshin also informedthat in Ukraine began the construction of a plant for the production of Turkish Bayraktar drones.