Sunday, August 07, 2022

Putin, Erdogan hold talks in narrow format in Sochi


TEHRAN, Aug. 06 (MNA) – Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart
 Recep Tayyip Erdogan held talks in a narrow format in the Black Sea city of Sochi on Friday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier said that during the meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi that he plans to discuss the project of construction of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant - the first in the republic.

"The Akkuyu issue, which we will be able to bring to a certain point after a certain assessment and make a decision on, will not make it possible to create delays in the implementation of the project. It is highly important to work and complete the Akkuyu NPP on schedule, considering that the plant will make it possible to cover 20% of Turkey’s power demands. I hope that the comprehensive assessment of this issue will be beneficial," Erdogan said.

Putin, in the meeting with Erdogan, stressed that TurkStream is one of the most important routes of Russian gas supplies to Europe and is operating smoothly.

"I would like to note that TurkStream, whose construction was completed by you and me some time ago, is now one of the critical pathways for supplies of Russian gas to Europe," the Russian leader said.

Russia and Turkey stand firmly behind Libya’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and national unity, and call for holding the elections in that country based on the widest consensus possible, according to the joint statement adopted by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at their talks in Sochi on Friday, TASS reported.

"The two leaders emphasized their strong commitment to Libya’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and national unity," the document reads.

The Russian and Turkish Presidents have stressed the importance of preserving Syria’s political unity and territorial integrity.

Erdogan and Putin also agreed to boost the bilateral trade volume and meet mutual expectations on energy issues, according to the joint statement of leaders.

They also agreed to bring trade and economic relations between the two countries to a new level in all sectors, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters after talks between the two leaders on Friday.

Putin and Erdogan discussed gas deliveries to Turkey and agreed upon its partial payment in rubles, Novak added.

"There was an important component; deliveries of gas to the Republic of Turkey were discussed, which is supplied in a fairly huge volume - 26 bln cubic meters per year. The Presidents agreed during talks that we will start partial gas deliveries and payment in rubles," Novak said.

Russia and Turkey are talking about a gradual transition to payments in national currencies, the Deputy Prime Minister said. "Supplies will be partly paid in Russian rubles then at the first stage. This is indeed the new stage, new opportunities, including for the development of our monetary and financial relations," Novak added.

MP/PR


Erdogan heads for high-stakes Putin talks on Ukraine, Syria



Dmitry ZAKS
Thu, 4 August 2022 


Ways to halt the war in Ukraine and the possible launch of a new conflict in Syria are expected to dominate talks on Friday between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The Turkish leader was riding high from the diplomatic success of helping orchestrate the resumption of Ukrainian grain shipments across the Black Sea when he took most of his top ministers to Sochi for his second talks with Putin in 17 days.

But there are tensions. Putin told Erdogan in Tehran last month that Russia remains opposed to any new offensive that Turkey might be planning against Kurdish militants in northern Syria.

Analysts believe these strains form part of the "competitive cooperation" that has defined the two leaders' relationship over the past 20 years.

The two were expected to hold private talks and a working lunch but no joint press conference.

"Russia's war on Ukraine has restored Turkey's self image as a key geopolitical player and given Erdogan more visibility than at any time in the last few years," European Council on Foreign Relations fellow Asli Aydintasbas wrote in a report last week.

- Truce talks -


Attempts by NATO member Turkey to remain neutral in the face of Moscow's historic stand-off with the West over Ukraine are starting to pay off.

Months of Turkish efforts saw Moscow and Kyiv sign a UN-backed agreement in Istanbul last month to resume grain deliveries from Ukrainian ports.



The first ship from Ukraine crossed Istanbul on Wednesday. Three more ships destined for Turkey and markets in Ireland and Britain set sail on Friday under a landmark deal designed to relieve a global food crisis caused by the war.

Turkey wants to translate this success into truce talks in Istanbul between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

"We discussed if the grain agreement could be an occasion for a sustainable ceasefire," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said after talks with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Asia this week.

Complicating these efforts are repeated threats by Erdogan to launch a new military operation in Syria -- a country where Russian and Turkish interests clash.

Russia's army helped Syrian President Bashar al-Assad survive a decade-long rebellion by groups backed by Turkey.

But Erdogan is threatening to invade northern Syria to expand an existing buffer zone that pushes out Kurdish groups he links to "terrorists" waging an insurgency against the Turkish state.

Putin told Russian media in Tehran he still has "certain disagreements, obviously" with Erdogan about Syria.

"In most likelihood, (Friday's) meeting has something do with a possible incursion into Syria, for which Turkey did not get a green light," said foreign affairs analyst Soli Ozel of Istanbul's Kadir Has University.

"Russia would have to get something in return," Ozel added.

- Waiting game -

Some analysts speculate that what Putin really wants is drones and ways to escape Western sanctions linked to the five-month-old war.

Turkey has been supplying Kyiv with lethal Bayraktar aerial vehicles that have proved effective in destroying Russian armoured columns across the Ukrainian war zone.

US officials say a Russian team has visited Iran to scope out the purchase of hundreds of drones for its own forces in Ukraine.

Erdogan has added to the intrigue by telling his cabinet that Putin asked him in Tehran to start selling the Bayraktars to Russia.



A senior Turkish official later said that Erdogan interpreted the suggestion as a joke.

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov appeared to lend credence to the idea.

"Military and technological cooperation are always on the two countries' agenda," Peskov told reporters.

Ukrainian intelligence also leaked an alleged Putin proposal to The Washington Post detailing ways Russia could use investments in Turkey to circumnavigate Western sanctions slowly strangling its economy.

Western officials cited by the paper could not confirm if the alleged Ukrainian intercept was real. Turkey is under heavy US pressure to comply with the sanctions in full.

One unlikely source of friction is how the two leaders -- renowned for being chronically late -- will actually meet.

Erdogan made Putin stand in place for nearly 50 seconds before walking out to greet him in Tehran.

A Turkish state news agency camera zeroed in on Putin's fidgeting face the entire time.

Many interpreted this as payback for the time Putin made Erdogan wait for nearly two minutes at a meeting in 2020.

zak/imm

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