The Turkish president hopes to play the role of Russia-Ukraine mediator and is eager to strengthen trade relations with Moscow.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin tomorrow Wednesday at Astanathe capital of Kazakhstan, on the sidelines of the session of the “Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia” (CICA), which will be held between October 12-13, a Turkish official told AFP.
This is the second meeting between the two leaders in a short period of time as Erdogan met Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization regional summit in Uzbekistan last month.
About: Agace Putin and Erdogan at the Shanghai summit – Watch video
THE Turkeywhich has remained neutral since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has in the past offered to broker talks between Kyiv and Moscow and maintains good relations with both neighbors.
So far, Erdogan has not commented on yesterday’s Russian bombings across the Ukrainewhich killed at least 19 people and injured more than 100.
However, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu had a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba after the attacks, a Turkish diplomatic source said without elaborating.
Erdogan remains hopeful of bringing Putin to the negotiating table with his Ukrainian counterpart for truce talkswhich neither side particularly wants, but which Turkish officials insist are both necessary and realistic.
Turkey, which is a member of NATO, has not joined the Western sanctions against Russia.
Erdogan is eager to strengthen them Commercial relations with Moscow in its bid to stabilize the battered economy ahead of elections next June.
Last month, Ankara confirmed that the last three state-owned Turkish banks (Halk Bank, Ziraat and Vakifbank) that until then allowed the operation of the Russian Mir payment system have abandoned it.
It is a type of card used by Russians after the withdrawal (due to Ukraine war) from the Russian market of well-known credit cards such as Visa Master Card.
The decision came after weeks of intense pressure and warnings from Washington for Turkey to reduce its economic ties with Russia or face sanctions.
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