Russian President Vladimir Putin, who arrived in Tehran on Tuesday to attend the Astana Troika summit, is holding a bilateral meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
According to Yuri Ushakov, an aide to the Russian president, the presidents will "discuss key issues of Russian-Turkish cooperation and the implementation of flagship projects in the trade and economic sphere, as well as deal with a number of international topics, including the situation around Ukraine and the export of Ukrainian grain".
Erdogan plans to focus on a comprehensive discussion of relations between Ankara and Moscow, the prospects for resolving the Ukrainian crisis and the establishment of a coordination center in Istanbul to control the supply of agricultural products by the Black Sea during his meeting with the Russian head of state. The issue of forming a grain corridor was discussed July 13 in Istanbul by the military delegations of Russia, Turkey and Ukraine together with representatives of the United Nations. According to Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, a new meeting of the "four" may take place this week, and a final document on the establishment of the center and the beginning of grain exports may be signed there.
The subject of possible Russian President's visit to Turkey is also expected to be discussed at the talks. Erdogan invited him to visit Ankara in January. Earlier it was reported that no exact dates for this visit have been set yet.
In addition, the two leaders will discuss the situation in Syria in light of Turkey's plans to carry out a new military operation in the north of its neighboring country against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and its Syrian branch - the People's Self-Defense Forces (SDF). The sides also plan to discuss normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia, the situation in the Caucasus region and other regional and international topics.
Ushakov confirmed that Turkey's plans to conduct a new operation in northern Syria against Kurdish formations will be discussed by the presidents. "The Russian principled position is that we oppose any action that violates the basic principle of the Syrian settlement, which is enshrined in the relevant [UN Security Council] resolutions and in the decisions of the Astana format - it is respect for the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Syria," the Kremlin representative pointed out.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS