Turkey has angered Vladimir Putin by freeing commanders of the Ukrainian Azov Regiment that were being held under a prisoner swap deal.
Russian commentators demanded a tough response to Turkey’s “betrayal” and Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, called it “a violation” of trust.
“No one informed Russia about the transfer,” Mr Peskov said. “They were supposed to stay in Turkey until the end of the conflict.”
Mr Peskov was reacting to a video of the Azov Regiment commanders hugging Volodymyr Zelenksy and other members of the Ukrainian government after being handed over at an airport in Turkey and then flying to Ukraine on Saturday.
Mr Zelensky had been in Turkey for talks with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the country’s president, who has also pledged to support Ukraine’s Nato membership aspirations.
“Without a doubt, Ukraine deserves to be in Nato,” Mr Erdogan said after talks with the Ukrainian president on Friday in Istanbul. Ukraine’s membership of Nato is due to be discussed at the annual Nato summit in Vilnius this week.
Turkey is a Nato member but it has maintained business and air links with Russia when Europe cut contact after the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine in February last year.
When Putin faced a rebellion two weeks ago by his Wagner mercenary unit, Mr Erdogan was one of the few international leaders to support him. He has also hosted failed peace talks and negotiated a deal that allowed Ukraine to export grain via its Black Sea ports.
Mr Erdogan said that Putin will travel to Turkey in August for rare overseas talks, but analysts said that his prisoner release deal with Mr Zelensky may show that he is beginning to support Ukraine more strongly.
“President Erdogan understands Putin better than many,” said Konstantin Sonin, a professor in public policy at the University of Chicago. “Putin does not listen to words, but can get a message if the message is a tangible action.”
The Azov Regiment defended Mariupol in south-eastern Ukraine against the Russian military during the first few months of the invasion. The Kremlin has accused the regiment of being a sanctuary of fascism and has held it up as proof that Ukraine harbours Nazis.
Under the terms of a prison swap deal agreed last September, 215 Ukrainian soldiers were swapped for Viktor Medvedchuk, a personal friend of Putin, and 55 other Russian soldiers. Ordinary soldiers from the Azov Regiment were sent back to Ukraine but their commanders were sent to Turkey where Mr Erdogan promised to keep them until the end of the war.
Now, in Moscow, Russian pundits feel that Mr Edrogan has betrayed Russia and the spirit of the prisoner swap deal. Sergei Markov, a pro-war commentator and a former adviser to the Kremlin, said that Putin needed a strong response.
“The consequences of this gross violation of these agreements and the release of Azov fascists needs to be very, very significant,” he said.
On Sunday, Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, discussed the situation in Ukraine and the Black Sea grain deal in a phone call with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan, Russia’s foreign ministry said.
In Lviv, western Ukraine, the Azov Regiment commanders were given heroes’ welcomes and they immediately promised to return to battle.
Denis Prokopenko, one of the freed Azov Regiment commanders, said it was his “main goal” to return to the front line.
“We will continue the fight,” he said. “We will definitely have our say again in battle.”
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiaWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRlbGVncmFwaC5jby51ay93b3JsZC1uZXdzLzIwMjMvMDcvMDkvYXpvdi1wcmlzb25lcnMtYmV0cmF5YWwtZXJkb2dhbi12bGFkaW1pci1wdXRpbi11a3JhaW5lL9IBAA?oc=5
2023-07-09 15:12:00Z
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