Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan hopes to discuss the situation in Idlib with Russian leader Vladimir Putin at a meeting in Sochi and "come to an important decision" regarding bilateral relations, he told Turkish reporters aboard his plane on his return from the United States on Thursday.
"The bilateral meeting with Mr. Putin in Sochi, if it takes place on September 29, is really important. We are not scheduled to have talks in delegations, Mr. Putin and I will only have a one-on-one meeting where, of course, we will discuss not only Idlib. We will discuss relations between Turkey and Russia, the situation in Syria, we will discuss what we have achieved in Syria and what we will achieve in the future. Turkey and Russia are two countries that play an important role in the region, and when I say that, I have to say one more thing. We have not seen anything wrong with Russia so far," the Sabah newspaper quoted him as saying.
Erdogan said he expects that the meeting with Putin "will result in an important decision" in terms of bilateral relations, which will then "enter a more active phase."
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that the Turkish leader's visit to Russia could touch on a broad agenda ranging from bilateral relations to Syria and other regional conflicts. Erdogan said in August that he would discuss the purchase of the second regiment of S-400 air defense missile systems.
The last face-to-face meeting between the two presidents took place in March 2020 in the Kremlin. Due to the situation with the coronavirus pandemic, subsequent talks were held by telephone or video-conferencing.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS