The Turkish president is hoping to push diplomatic talks on the war in Ukraine during discussions with the Russian leader. Complicating these efforts is Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s planned military operation in Syria.
Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for talks in Sochi on Friday.
”Despite the current regional and global challenges, the leaders reaffirmed their common will to further develop Russian-Turkish relations,” the Kremlin said in a statement after the talks. The Turkish and Russian presidents agreed to boost their political and economic — both trade and energy — cooperation. […]
A more contentious issue on the agenda was Turkey’s planned incursion into northern Syria to target Kurdish fighters. The plan, announced by Erdogan in May, has drawn criticism from Russia, Iran and the United States. Russia remains the dominant foreign military power in Syria, and Iran also plays a part in supporting the authoritarian Syrian government.
Ahead of Friday’s meeting, the Kremlin called on Turkey not to ”destabilize” Syria.
”Turkey has legitimate concerns for security reasons, which we, of course, take into account,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Läs artikel