Turkey violated existing agreements after it returned five commanders of the Azov regiment to Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told RIA Novosti.
(Bloomberg) — Turkey violated existing agreements after it returned five commanders of the Azov regiment to Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told RIA Novosti.
Earlier on Saturday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a tweet that five “heroes” are returning home to “finally be with their relatives.”
Five Ukrainian commanders who held the defense of the Azovstal steel plant in the port city of Mariupol for months against Russian assault were among prisoners of war swapped between Russia and Ukraine in September, with Turkey and Saudia Arabia involved in exchange talks. The commanders were freed on condition that they spend rest of the war in Turkey under the personal protection of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Zelenskiy said at the time.
“The return of the leaders of the ‘Azov’ from Turkey to Ukraine is nothing more than a direct violation of the terms of the existing agreements,” Peskov told RIA Novosti. “Moreover, in this case, both the Ukrainian side and the Turkish side violated the conditions.”
No one informed Russia about the transfer of the commanders, he added. Moscow has designated Azov a terrorist group.
Peskov said that there is a lot of pressure on Ankara as it prepares for the NATO summit next week. “Turkey, of course, as a NATO member, shows its solidarity with the alliance. We understand all this perfectly well,” Peskov said.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.