As of: January 30, 2024, 1:19 p.m
By: Erkan Pehlivan
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Press
Split
For the first time in more than four years, Putin wants to visit a NATO member country.
The talks with Erdogan will primarily focus on natural gas.
Moscow/Ankara – Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to visit Turkey in February.
“Yes, a visit is being prepared,” Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told the Russian news agency
Interfax
on Monday (January 29).
The exact date has not yet been set, writes the Turkish state news agency
Anadolu Ajansi
.
It would be Putin's first visit to a NATO member state since 2020, when he met then-Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany.
The main topic of the meeting in Turkey will be the war in Ukraine.
Russia has reportedly been willing to hold peace talks for a long time
The former Russian ambassador to the USA denied reports in the Western press that Russia was now ready for peace negotiations with Ukraine.
“We were ready for this from the start.
We are not the ones who broke off these negotiations.
We are ready to do this, but there is no one to talk to us because the Ukrainian side has banned itself from negotiating with the Russians,”
Anadolu quoted
Ayansi
Ushakov as saying.
Putin, who is wanted on an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, does not travel abroad often.
With the trip before the Russian elections in March, the 71-year-old is likely to want to show once again that he is not isolated on the international stage.
Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to visit Turkey in February.
© dpa/Alexei Nikolsky
Türkiye is to become a transshipment point for natural gas from Russia
Putin's visit to Turkey will probably focus primarily on economic relations with Turkey and the West.
This is what the Moscow political scientist Dr.
Kerim Has in conversation with
fr.de
from
IPPEN.MEDIA
.
The West had repeatedly pressured Turkey to take part in sanctions against Russia.
Putin, on the other hand, wants to transform Turkey into a transshipment point for Russian gas.
“In October 2022, Putin proposed making Turkey a transit center for Russian gas.
The negotiations, which have been going on for around 1.5 years, are heading towards a final agreement.
The Russian gas company Gazprom wants to sell its gas to the West via Turkey.
This is also in Türkiye's interest.
Turkey can then sell this gas to Europe and make money from it.”
The scientist pointed out in the FR interview that Russia still supplies Europe with gas via Ukraine.
There is a contract with Ukraine for this that expires at the end of 2024.
“Many countries in Europe want to continue buying gas from Russia.
This particularly includes Hungary,” says Has.
“If this actually happens, it will be profitable for both countries.”
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Arif Asalioglu, director of the Mirnas International Institute in Moscow, also assumes that Russian natural gas will play a major role in the talks.
“The establishment of a transshipment point is one of the most important questions.
Russia wants to increase the flow of gas to Turkey through this center.
Turkey also supports this.
“Turkey would then like to sell the gas as its own commodity to Europe and the Balkan countries, combined with gas from Azerbaijan, Iran and other countries,” said Asalioglu.
Has believes that the West could also benefit from a gas deal between the two countries.
“Russia would be dependent on a NATO country.
The West would have more influence over Moscow.
“That would make the Russian government more independent, for example from China,” says the political scientist.
However, the Moscow scientist does not believe that the meeting between Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will lead to a breakthrough in peace with Ukraine.
Putin and Erdogan want to rein in Israel
In addition to the main topic, it is also likely to be about the war in Israel.
“Russia believes that Israel, with US support, has exceeded the UN-established borders in Palestine and Gaza.
Putin and Erdogan agree on this issue.
Both Ankara and Moscow had called on the United Nations for an emergency meeting,” said Asalioglu.
(erpe/dpa)