Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed hope Thursday that Russian leader Vladimir Putin will visit the republic after a trip to China.
"Today we will have a meeting with Mr. [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky, and Mr. Putin informed us that he will visit Turkey after his visit to China," Erdogan stated at a press conference before flying to Kiev in response to a reporter's question about the possible date of the Russian president's visit. - "It is not right for us to watch the negative developments between Russia and Ukraine. I hope that we will successfully overcome this turbulent period between the two countries." Erdogan did not specify the timing of the visit.
The Turkish president also noted that Ankara is "closely monitoring tensions in the region" and calls on all sides to dialogue. "We constantly state that we support the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. We invite everyone to dialogue so that peace can prevail in the region. Once again, I stress that we are ready to contribute to the establishment of an atmosphere of peace and trust in our region," Erdogan added.
On January 26, Erdogan said he invited Putin to visit the republic. In addition, he expressed his desire to organize a "face-to-face" meeting between Putin and Zelensky so that they could "continue the path of restoring an atmosphere of peace."
Meanwhile, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on January 24 that the Kremlin had no specific data on the possibility of a meeting between Putin and his Turkish counterpart. During telephone conversations in December 2021, Putin pointed out to Erdogan that Ukraine was continuing its destructive line aimed at disrupting the Minsk agreements.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS