Throughout its history, Russia has respected only the Ottoman Empire. Such a statement was made by Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen at a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Oxu reports.Az with reference to the Haber Global TV channel.
Valtonen presented Fidan with a book by former Finnish President Mauno Koivisto, The Russian Idea.
"I gave this book as a gift because there is a section in it where it is noted: the only force that the Russian Empire respected was the Ottoman Empire," she said.
Hakan Fidan, in turn, said that he was proud of his colleague's words and thanked her.