The Kremlin is seeking an explanation from Turkey regarding the latter’s recent decision to allow five Ukrainian Azov Battalion commanders to return to Kyiv, in an apparent breach of an earlier prisoner-swap agreement.
“The return of the Azov leaders violates an existing agreement,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on July 10.
“We will discuss this issue with Turkey. We’ve already started talks on this issue.”
On July 7, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Istanbul, where he met with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 24, 2016. Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images
It was Mr. Zelenskyy’s first trip to Turkey since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
At a joint press conference held after the talks, Mr. Erdogan said Ankara’s relations with Kyiv are “stronger in every way, despite all that has happened.”
In a move that surprised many observers, Mr. Zelenskyy left Istanbul the following day with five Azov Battalion commanders who had been staying in Turkey for the past several months.
“We are returning home from Turkey and bringing our heroes home,” the Ukrainian leader declared on Telegram.
The five commanders surrendered to Russian forces last year following Russia’s capture of Mariupol. Under a subsequent prisoner swap brokered by Ankara, they were supposed to remain in Turkey until the end of the conflict.
At the time, Mr. Zelenskyy had said the five commanders would remain “in comfortable conditions and under the personal protection of the president of Turkey until the end of the war.”
After their departure from Istanbul on July 8, the Azov commanders received a heroes’ welcome in the Ukrainian city of Lviv. Since then, the five men have said that they plan to return to the front to take part in Kyiv’s ongoing counter-offensive.
Often accused of espousing neo-Nazi ideologies, the ultra-nationalist Azov Battalion is outlawed in Russia.
“We will certainly take into account the current situation while concluding future agreements in various spheres,” Mr. Peskov said.
Mr. Zelenskyy has yet to explain why the five commanders were permitted to return to Ukraine.
Nor has Ankara officially commented on its decision to release the men in an apparent breach of the terms of the prisoner swap.
According to the Kremlin spokesman, Moscow wasn’t informed of the move in advance.
He described the commanders’ return to Ukraine as “a direct violation of the terms of existing agreements.”
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan (L) and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (R) shake hands next to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg prior to their meeting, on the eve of a NATO summit, in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 10, 2023. Yves Herman/Pool via Reuters
On July 9, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held a phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, during which the issue was reportedly discussed.
In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said the two top diplomats stressed the need to “preserve and strengthen the trusting nature of relations between Moscow and Ankara.”
According to Turkey’s Anadolu news agency, Lavrov and Fidan discussed the war in Ukraine and the Ankara-brokered Black Sea grain initiative, which is set to expire next week.
However, the news agency didn’t mention the return of the Azov commanders.
On the same day, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan asserted that Washington had nothing to do with the surprise move by Turkey.
“We weren’t a part of this and aren’t in a position to comment on what Erdogan was trying to accomplish by it,” he told reporters.
Tilting Toward NATO
In another surprise move on July 10, Mr. Erdogan lifted his country’s longstanding objection to a months-long bid by Sweden to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance.Before joining NATO, applicants must be approved by all the alliance’s existing members. Turkey joined NATO in 1952.
The Turkish leader made the announcement following his arrival in Vilnius, Lithuania, which is currently hosting a landmark NATO summit.
Notably, during his July 7 meeting with Mr. Zelenskyy in Istanbul, Mr. Erdogan had said that Ukraine, too, “deserved” to be admitted to NATO.
Mr. Zelenskyy has voiced hope that, at the Vilnius summit, his country would be invited to join the alliance. However, some of NATO’s 31 current members reportedly fear that such a move would risk further escalation with Moscow.
In response to Mr. Erdogan’s stated support for Kyiv’s NATO bid, Mr. Peskov claimed that “a lot of pressure was exerted on Turkey” in advance of the summit.
“Turkey itself, of course, being a member of NATO, demonstrates its solidarity with the North Atlantic Alliance,” he told Russia’s Sputnik news agency on July 8.
“We understand this very well.”
Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine early last year, Turkey—unlike its NATO allies—has sought to maintain a degree of neutrality.
While Ankara condemned the invasion from the outset, it has also declined to support Western-led sanctions on Moscow.
Under Mr. Erdogan, Turkey has maintained relatively good relations with Russia, with which it shares extensive trade ties and a lengthy maritime border.
According to recent statements from Moscow and Ankara, Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to visit Turkey sometime next month for talks with his Turkish counterpart.
