Sochi, 6 August 2022 (TDI): The Presidents of Russia and Turkiye, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, held a second meeting in Sochi on 5 August. This was during his state visit to Russia on Friday 5 August. Prior to this meeting, both leaders met two weeks earlier in Tehran, Iran.
President @RTErdogan, who is paying a working visit to Russia, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi. pic.twitter.com/dyqUAb4Jay
— Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye (@trpresidency) August 5, 2022
Agenda of the second meeting
Both Putin and Erdoğan met to strengthen cooperation in the transport, agriculture, and construction industries. At the meeting in Sochi which took four hours, Putin and Erdoğan also agreed to enhance their economic and energy cooperation. Putin also told Erdoğan that he expected to sign an agreement to enhance trade and economic relations.
“I hope that today we will be able too sign a relevant memorandum on the development of our trade and economic ties.”
They also emphasized the need to ensure the execution of the Istanbul agreement on the export of grain from Ukraine as well as exports of Russian grain. The two leaders have also expressed the significance of the grain exports through the Black sea. Prior to the meeting, three ships containing tons of corn departed from Ukrainian ports on the morning of 5th August. This was after the first ship left on Monday for the first time since 24 February 2022.
The two presidents have also reaffirmed their commitment to fighting terrorist organizations in Syria.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, ”Turkey has legitimate concerns for security reasons, which we, of course,take into account.”
Turkiye has also condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has also supplied Ukraine with ammunition. However, because it has not imposed any sanctions on Russia, Turkiye has lost western allies. Furthermore, Putin also appreciated the TurkStream pipeline as it is the main route for Russian gas that is still flowing in Europe.
