Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov expressed the Kremlin’s hope to find a settlement to the issue of the detention of Russian journalists in Turkey, so that they would be released as soon as possible.

Peskov told reporters on Monday: “Our diplomats are in contact with the Turkish side, and we hope that the problem will be solved through dialogue.” He added, “We expect and hope that our journalists will be released in the near future.”

Peskov assured that Russia will take all possible measures to provide assistance to the detained Russian journalists.

The spokesman declined to answer a question about whether Moscow considers the incident an unfriendly step on the part of Turkey, saying only: “We continue to study the conditions and causes of this detention.”

Earlier, a source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry said that the case of two journalists working for the Russian NTV channel, who were detained a while ago in Istanbul, had been referred to a Turkish court.

According to a Turkish source, these two journalists were arrested in Istanbul for "not having the necessary credentials", while they filmed near the building where the headquarters of the "Beikar Savonma" company, which specializes in producing unmanned warplanes, is located.