Better to be friends than enemies. Russia and Turkey intend to strengthen their relations. Despite tensions, Presidents Putin and Erdogan say they have learned to find compromises.
“Sometimes negotiations are not easy, but they end with a positive outcome. Our services have learned to find compromises favorable to both parties “, welcomed Mr. Putin, welcoming Mr. Erdogan to his summer residence in Sochi, on the shores of the Black Sea.
“I think there is a great benefit to the fact that Turkey and Russia continue to strengthen their relations“, added Mr. Erdogan, who regularly meets the Russian leader.
Russia and Turkey maintain complex relations divided between regional rivalries and common economic and strategic interests.
In recent years, they have faced each other in Syria, where they support opposing camps, and in a war between Armenia – Turkey’s enemy close to Moscow – and Azerbaijan, supported unwaveringly by Ankara.
In Syria, the two powers sponsored ceasefire agreements in the Idlib region, which is out of Damascus’s control and where pro-Turkish fighters are located.
The two countries also have differences in the conflict in Libya.
At the same time, the two countries have come closer thanks to tensions between Moscow and the West, and increasingly delicate relations between Turkey and its NATO allies.
Russia, for example, sold S-400 anti-aircraft systems to the Turks, sparking protests from Washington.
Ankara and Moscow also have important common economic interests, particularly in tourism and food exports.
Mr. Putin also mentioned the inauguration in 2020 of the TurkStream gas pipeline, which transports Russian gas via Turkey and the Black Sea to Europe.
Reference-feedproxy.google.com