Erdogan will meet with Putin in Astana

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Astana, Kazakhstan’s capital on October 13 during the 6th summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA).

On Tuesday, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin Spokesman told reporters that Erdogan and Putin will discuss Turkish-Russian relations and Ukraine. Peskov added that preparations for a meeting are underway and that the meeting will be on Thursday.

Peskov, about the meeting’s agenda, said: “Ukraine and bilateral relations, which are quite multifaceted, as well as a general exchange of views on the current developments."

In a TV program, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that during the Erdogan-Putin meeting, Ankara might raise the issue of organizing a dialogue between Russia and Western countries.

Lavrov said: “It is pretty clear to me that if the Turkish counterparts have such thoughts, they will have a great opportunity this week during a meeting between the presidents - Erdogan and Putin - who will be together at the events in Astana, to put such questions to us. Apart from public announcements, we have more heard nothing yet."

Lavrov explained that this is not the first time that initiatives were announced by Russia’s partners. First, they draw attention to them, and then they wait and look at who will react and how," Lavrov said.

Lavrov also said that if Turkish media is to be believed, Erdogan’s idea was examined by the Americans and that Turkey received a “semi-positive nod in reply".

In early September, the Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov said that Putin planned to go to the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) between October 12-14, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit.