Sunday, January 02, 2022
Better relationships wanted
Putin and Erdogan go on a cuddle course
In the escalating conflict in Ukraine, Turkey is supplying combat drones to Ukrainian troops. The Russian leadership doesn’t like that at all. In a phone call, Presidents Putin and Erdogan try to resolve their differences.
The presidents of Russia and Turkey, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, want to improve relations between their countries again. After a joint telephone call, their offices announced that the two heads of state wanted to intensify their countries’ cooperation. Most recently, the relationship between Moscow and Ankara was tense due to the conflict in Ukraine, among other things.
A month ago, Putin sharply criticized Turkish deliveries of combat drones to the Ukrainian military, fearing that they could be used against pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine. The NATO state Turkey rejected this: Ankara could not be held responsible for the use of Turkish drones by Ukraine. The use of a Turkish product is a matter for the buying country.
For his part, the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavusoglu had accused Moscow of making “unilateral” demands on NATO. The Kremlin had requested security guarantees from the Western defense alliance. Among other things, Moscow wants Ukraine to be formally excluded from joining NATO and the USA foregoing military bases near the border with Russia.
Putin and Erdogan “exchanged New Year’s greetings, summarized the most important results of bilateral cooperation and reiterated their desire to further intensify the mutually beneficial partnership between Russia and Turkey,” said the Kremlin after the phone call. Erdogan’s office said both sides had discussed “steps to improve Turkish-Russian relations” and confirmed their desire to expand cooperation “in all areas”.