Earlier in the day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the leaders of the Azov battalion* had returned to Ukraine from Turkiye.
"Of course, preparations for the NATO summit are underway, and of course, in the context of this preparation, a lot of pressure was exerted on Turkiye. And Turkiye itself, of course, being a member of NATO, demonstrates its solidarity with the North Atlantic Alliance. We understand all this very well," Peskov said, when asked to comment on the return of the commanders of the nationalist Azov battalion back to Ukraine.
However, it is still a clear violation of the terms of the existing agreements both on the part of Ankara and Kiev, Kremlin spokesman noted.
"The return of the Azov leaders from Turkiye to Ukraine is nothing more than a direct violation of the terms of the existing agreements. Moreover, in this case, the conditions were violated by both the Ukrainian side and the Turkish side," Peskov said.
At the same time this decision is directly linked to the failures of Kiev's counteroffensive, which it suffers on a daily basis, Peskov highlighted.
"This decision to hand over the Azov commanders to [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy in violation of the existing agreements, to return them to Ukraine, is certainly directly related to the failures of the counteroffensive. These are failures that the troops of the Kiev regime currently face every day," Peskov said.
Denis Pushilin, the acting head of the Donetsk People's Republic said in September 2022 that as a result of the exchange of prisoners with Ukraine, 215 people, including the leaders of the Azov battalion, had been transferred to Kiev. The exchange of prisoners was also confirmed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In January 2023, the Hurriyet newspaper reported, citing Turkish sources, that the Azov leaders were in Turkiye at Russia's demand.
*Azov Battalion is a terrorist organization banned in Russia.