Putin discussed energy cooperation and Ukraine with Erdogan

Presidents of Russia and Turkey Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan had a telephone conversation on the morning of January 5, during which they discussed the implementation of a number of economic projects and political issues.

The administration of the Turkish leader was the first to report on the conversation. Erdogan, they noted, told Putin that he was focused on completing the preparation of a roadmap for creating a gas hub in Turkey, the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bcreating which the Russian president came up with in October, and his intention to take concrete steps to implement it.

Putin then announced that the falling volumes of gas transportation to the EU (due to damage to the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines and sanctions against the latter) could be transferred from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. In this case, according to Putin, Turkey can become the largest gas hub. Later, on October 19, Erdogan announced that he had agreed with Putin on the implementation of this project.

Parties as later noted in the press service of the Kremlin, they also discussed the construction of the Akkuyu NPP, which has been underway on the southern coast of the country, in the province of Mersin since 2018. The Akkuyu NPP project, worth about $22 billion, will consist of four units based on VVER-1200 reactors with a capacity of 1200 MW each is implemented according to the BOO scheme, when the Russian side acts as the builder and at the same time the owner. The first power unit is expected to be commissioned in 2023.

One of the topics of discussion was the settlement of the situation in Ukraine. According to the Turkish side, Erdogan reminded Putin of the positive results of initiatives to promote dialogue, transmits TASS. In particular, Ankara considers the implementation of the “grain deal”, negotiations on the security zone around the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and “a large-scale exchange of prisoners” as such.

It is at mediation Turkey hosted the September exchange prisoners between Moscow and Kyiv, as a result of which the Ukrainian businessman and politician Viktor Medvedchuk and 55 Russian servicemen were handed over to Russia. Erdogan stressed that calls for peace and dialogue “should be supported by a unilateral cessation of hostilities and a fair settlement of differences” (quote according to TASS).

Putin, in response, confirmed Moscow’s openness to a serious dialogue. For him, the Kyiv authorities must comply with “well-known and repeatedly voiced requirements,” as well as take into account the new “territorial realities,” the Kremlin said. The Russian president also focused on the destructive role of Western states that continue to pump weapons and military equipment to the Kyiv regime and provide it with operational information and target designations.

While discussing the implementation of the grain deal, Putin also reaffirmed Russia’s readiness to supply agricultural products to the poorest countries. Erdogan himself has already stated this.

“Putin once again noted the readiness of his country to supply agricultural products to the poorest countries. We are ready to assist, grind grain into flour at Turkish enterprises and deliver it to underdeveloped African countries,” he said (quote according to Anadolu). The Russian leader, in turn, stressed during the conversation that the implementation of the deal also provides for the unhindered export of Russian products.

Erdogan also stressed that he plans to discuss these results of the conversation with Putin today by telephone with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.

The parties also touched upon the issues of the Syrian settlement. The trilateral meetings held in Moscow on December 28 negotiation The heads of the ministries of defense and intelligence of Russia, Syria and Turkey were positively assessed by the leaders of the two countries, and Putin expressed the hope that such contacts would contribute to a fundamental improvement in the situation in Syria.

According to Erdogan, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should take a “constructive stance” and take “a number of steps in the political process” to resolve the situation in the country. The Turkish leader also noted that “concrete steps” are needed against the formations of the Syrian Kurds PKK / PYD / YPG, which Ankara considers terrorist, including the “cleansing” of the Syrian regions of Tall Rifat and Munbich from them.