Russian envoy: Moscow appreciates Ankara’s efforts to facilitate negotiations on Ukraine

Russia highly appreciates Turkey’s efforts to facilitate the negotiation process on Ukraine, Russian Ambassador to Turkey Alexey Yerkhov said on Monday.

"What will happen next? Russia will continue to make Ukraine friendly and demilitarized, to become a country in which there will be no threat of establishing another Nazi state, there will be no prohibition on the Russian language, culture, and the Orthodox Church. So that Ukraine does not become the territory of the Western "Drive to the East" (Drang nach Osten) once again," Yerkhov stressed.

"I want to emphasize that we highly appreciate Turkey’s efforts to facilitate a negotiated settlement, which is why we agreed to hold the next round [of negotiations] here on Turkish soil," the Russian ambassador added.