Erdogan and Stoltenberg Discuss Events in Russia

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had a phone conversation on Sunday with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, during which they discussed the situation in Russia and Sweden's potential membership in the alliance, Anadolu reports, citing the Turkish leader's office.

It was noted that during the conversation, the interlocutors emphasized that the cessation of tension in Russia "prevented irreparable humanitarian tragedies in Ukraine."

Additionally, Erdogan stated that "Turkey maintains a constructive position regarding Sweden's membership issue." At the same time, he added that Ankara believes Sweden's legislative changes are "meaningless as long as supporters of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party), associated Kurdish YPG forces (People's Protection Units) hold demonstrations freely in this country."

On June 23, the head of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, announced that Russian military forces had attacked the group's positions. The Ministry of Defense denied these statements. Later, the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation initiated a criminal case against Prigozhin for "organizing an armed rebellion."

The day before, there were telephone negotiations between Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Prigozhin, resulting in the acceptance of an offer to halt the movement of the group's fighters across Russian territory. This information was disseminated by the press service of the Belarusian president.

Afterward, Prigozhin announced that the group's columns would return to field camps.

Meanwhile, Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, stated that the criminal case opened against the head of the Wagner group would be dismissed as he would be going to Belarus.