Why the leaders of “Azov” were returned to Ukraine

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, after the completion of negotiations in Turkey, announced his return to Ukraine, along with five commanders of the Azov nationalist association (recognized as terrorist in Russia and prohibited). In 2022, they were handed over to Turkey as part of a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine. According to the agreements reached then, they were supposed to stay on Turkish territory until the end of the conflict.

At the same time, Zelensky published a video on his Telegram channel, where the leaders of the neo-Nazi organization are taken to the airport, and then they fly with him by plane to Ukraine.

According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the return of the Azov commanders to Ukraine is a violation of the tripartite agreements between Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. “The return of the Azov leaders from Turkey to Ukraine is nothing more than a direct violation of the terms of the existing agreements. Moreover, in this case, the conditions were violated by both the Ukrainian side and the Turkish side,” said Peskov (quote from RIA Novosti).

Peskov recalled that, in accordance with the agreements, these people were to remain in Turkey until the end of the Ukrainian conflict. Moreover, Russia was not informed about the return of the militants to Ukraine, he stressed.

According to the Kremlin representative, Turkey was “forced to take” this step on the eve of the NATO summit, and Ankara “showed solidarity”, Moscow “understands this very well.” “Such a violation of existing agreements does not paint anyone,” Peskov concluded.

The next NATO summit will be held in Vilnius on July 11-12, the main topic of the event will be the situation in Ukraine, and the creation of the Ukraine-NATO Council is also planned.

Russia and Ukraine in September last year, with the mediation of Turkey, held an exchange of prisoners. According to the Ukrainian side, Moscow handed over 215 people to Kyiv, including more than a hundred militants and five Azov commanders, as well as 10 mercenaries. Some of them remained in Turkey until recently, about which wrote local media.

As part of that exchange, in addition to 55 military personnel, a Ukrainian businessman and politician Viktor Medvedchuk was transferred to Russia. Denis Pushilin, then head of the DPR, said that thanks to Medvedchuk, more than 1,000 DPR servicemen were released from captivity as part of the Minsk process and outside it.

The captured Azov leaders in question surrendered after the Russian Armed Forces took control of Mariupol on April 21, 2022, shortly after the start of the special operation. At the same time, the militants of the neo-Nazi organization remained blocked on the territory of Azovstal. On May 20 of the same year, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported on the completion of the operation and the complete liberation of the plant. 2439 Ukrainian soldiers left the factory and surrendered.

On July 7, Zelensky met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul. Following the meeting, Erdogan said that Turkey has made the greatest efforts to end the conflict through negotiations based on international law. Ukraine, in his opinion, deserves NATO membership.

At the same time, the Turkish leader expressed hope that Russian President Vladimir Putin would soon arrive in Turkey on an official visit. However, Peskov in this regard notedthat there is no certainty as to the date of organizing such a visit to Moscow.