Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said Russia disagrees with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who recently called for the return of the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, to Ukraine in line with international law, the state-run Russian news agency TASS reported.
“This issue [the status of Crimea] is one of the disagreements that exist between us and our Turkish friends,” Peskov said.
“Here we have completely divergent opinions. At the same time, we do not abandon our deliberate attempts to explain to our Turkish friends and colleagues our point of view, our position.”
Peskov said Russia’s efforts aimed at explaining its position about Crimea to Turkey will hopefully over time allow Ankara to understand it better and to agree with their arguments.
Erdoğan, who participated the Fourth Crimea Platform Leaders Summit with a video message on Wednesday, said the return of Crimea to Ukraine is a requirement of international law while reiterating Turkey’s “unwavering” support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence.
Erdoğan has managed to maintain trade and political relations with both Ukraine and Russia, allowing Russia to avoid Western sanctions due to the war it launched on Ukraine in February 2022 while selling weapons to Ukraine.
Peskov also said earlier this week that that Moscow hopes Putin can make a long-planned visit to Turkey for talks with Erdoğan once preparations are completed.
