Putin's visit to Türkiye postponed

Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Türkiye is likely to take place in late April or early May.

Source: RIA Novosti, a Kremlin-aligned Russian news outlet, with reference to a source in Ankara

Details: The two leaders are expected to meet in late April or early May after the local elections to be held on 31 March in Türkiye and the presidential elections to be held on 17 March in Russia.

On Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that preparations for Putin's meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan were underway, but that the date of the visit had not yet been determined.

Moscow and Ankara will announce the dates of the visit "as soon as the dates are agreed upon, naturally, taking into account the electoral cycle in Russia and the Turkish president's busy work schedule," Peskov said.

Putin's trip, which has been postponed twice since late last year, is set to be Putin's first visit to a NATO member state since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.

Background: A Turkish official told Reuters last week that Putin will visit NATO member state Türkiye on 12 February.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said earlier this week that Putin and Erdoğan would discuss the gas hub, the war in Ukraine, and grain exports from the Black Sea during their meeting.

Amid preparations for Putin's visit, the European Commission reminded Ankara that the International Criminal Court had issued an arrest warrant for the Russian President, considering him guilty of illegally deporting thousands of children from Ukraine.

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