Settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, the project to create a gas hub on Turkish territory and the Syrian issue are expected to be the main issues on the agenda of the talks between Turkish and Russian Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. The Turkish leader previously announced a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart.
"Obviously Erdogan will discuss the situation in Ukraine, we cannot rule out new initiatives by Ankara in this direction, given the maintenance of contacts with the leadership of the two countries. The project of creating a hub is a very topical issue on the bilateral agenda, the Turkish side reported on the plans to create a center of natural gas supplies to Europe and the formation of prices for it during the year. The presidents will also touch upon the Akkuyu nuclear power plant construction project in Turkey, the first power unit of which is planned to be launched this year," a source in Ankara told TASS, commenting on the possible agenda of the talks between the two countries' leaders.
The Syrian issue, in his opinion, will be another matter to be discussed. "A trilateral meeting on Syria at the level of defense ministers was held in Moscow at the end of December, and now foreign ministers' talks are planned, which could result in a meeting between Turkish and Syrian presidents, possibly with the participation of Russia," the source said.
Relations between Ankara and Damascus have deteriorated since the start of the conflict in Syria in 2011. Diplomatic ties between the two countries were then terminated.
Erdogan said on December 15 that he offered his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to hold a trilateral meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. This summit, he said, should be preceded by talks at the level of representatives of special services, defense and foreign ministers.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS