Putin to meet with Erdogan

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have agreed to hold a phone call on Wednesday to discuss a number of issues, including the creation of a gas hub on Turkish territory, Turanews.kz reports.

Putin said at a press conference following the Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg that he and Erdogan had not yet agreed on a date or location for a meeting, but that they were “looking for a convenient time.”

“We wanted to talk on the phone, President Erdogan suggested a conversation, but he suggested a time that was not very convenient for me. I suggested today – it’s uncomfortable for him, I suggested tomorrow – he’s also uncomfortable. Well, we agreed to talk, in my opinion, on Wednesday. We’ll talk We will decide there,” Putin said.

Putin also said that the creation of a gas hub on Turkish territory remains on the agenda. “We agreed that we would see each other, yes, either he would come to us, or I would go to him, we’ll see. He invited me even before the [presidential and parliamentary] elections [in Türkiye], but then we decided that it was better do not do this so that no one speculates on this topic,” Putin said.

Putin explained that his visit on the eve of the elections could be seen as “an attempt to influence the internal political process.” “Visits on the eve of a few there, a week or three weeks before the elections could be considered as some kind of attempt to influence the domestic political process. Neither he nor I need it. And we decided to postpone our meeting. But we still did not agree anywhere – either here or in Türkiye. We’ll see,” the Russian leader added.

The phone call between Putin and Erdogan is likely to be closely watched by observers, as it comes at a time of heightened tensions between Russia and the West over the war in Ukraine. The two leaders are seen as having a close relationship, and their meeting could be seen as an attempt to de-escalate tensions.