The Kremlin regrets Turkey's non-recognition of the results of the State duma elections in Crimea and hopes that the republic's position on the peninsula will change, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.
"We do not accept such statements [about not recognizing the results of the elections in Crimea] and we are openly telling our Turkish colleagues about this," Peskov said. - "The topic of Crimea is a topic on which our positions diverge diametrically. We regret this position of Turkey, but we hope that over time there will be a political will and Turkey will change this position, simply paying tribute to the truth and the reality of the situation".
The Kremlin spokesperson added that Turkey is a partner of Russia and "the presence of significant issues on which there are disagreements is not and should not be an obstacle for the development of the entire range of bilateral relations and interaction in a number of regional issues".
Peskov stressed that "interaction should continue, and it is primarily in the interests of the Russian side, as well as in the interests of the Turkish side." "As for the points of disagreement, we will continue to work with the Turkish side on these points, explaining our position and counting on the fact that sooner or later we will manage to bring the positions closer together," the Kremlin spokesman concluded.
Earlier, the Turkish foreign ministry's website posted a statement by its spokesman, Tanju Bilgic, saying that the results of the September 17-19 State duma election "are not legally binding for Turkey" with regard to Crimea. Foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, commenting on this information on the YouTube channel "Solovyov Live," noted that Moscow will not disregard Ankara's statement.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS