Turkey gave explanations to Russia on the transfer of the leaders of the Azov battalion, recognized as terrorist in Russia and banned in Russia, to Ukraine, Omer Celik, an official representative of the ruling Turkish Justice and Development Party, said in an interview with Habertürk TV channel.
“From our side, appropriate explanations were given, the situation cleared up. There is no tension”, RIA Novosti quotes him as saying.
On July 7, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Istanbul, where he met with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Later, the Ukrainian leader announced his return to Ukraine along with the Azov commanders, who ended up in Turkey in the fall of 2022 as a result of an exchange of prisoners of war between Kyiv and Moscow. It was originally planned that the Azov commanders would remain in Turkey until the end of the conflict. The Kremlin called the incident a violation of the agreements by Ankara.
On July 12, Erdogan told reporters that he intends to personally discuss the transfer of Azov leaders with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov said that the date of the talks between the two leaders has not yet been determined.
