MOSCOW, July 9 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed by phone with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan the destructiveness of Ankara's course to continue military assistance to Kiev and the situation with the return of the leaders of «Azov» * to Ukraine, according to the website of the diplomatic department.
«Ankara's attention was drawn to the destructiveness of the course to continue deliveries of military equipment to the Kiev regime. Appropriate steps, as it was emphasized, can only lead to negative consequences,» the statement says.
It is noted that Lavrov and Fidan also exchanged opinions on the regional situation, including the situation around the return of the leaders of «Azov»* to Ukraine.
On Friday, Vladimir Zelensky arrived in Turkey, where he held talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The next day, the head of the Kyiv regime announced that Denis Prokopenko, Svyatoslav Palamar, Sergey Volynsky, Oleg Khomenko, Denis Shlega were flying to Kyiv from Istanbul.
As Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the President of Russia, emphasized, the return of the commanders of Azov * to Ukraine was a violation of the terms of the existing agreements. According to him, these persons, according to the agreements, were supposed to stay in Turkey until the end of the conflict. At the same time, the official noted that Ankara made this decision under pressure against the background of the failures of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the counteroffensive and the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius. , of which 55 are military personnel: five of them are from Donbass, the rest are employees of the Russian troops. 215 people were handed over to Ukraine, among whom were the leaders of the Azov terrorist regiment*.
Erdogan also reported on the exchange. In January, the Hurriyet newspaper, citing sources, wrote that the Azov people were still in Turkey, which, as noted, was a demand from Russia.
* Terrorist organization banned in Russia.