It would be President Putin’s first visit to a NATO country since Russia launched a large-scale war of aggression in Ukraine in February of last year.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin will visit Turkey in August, says the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Erdoğan said the President of Ukraine about Putin’s upcoming visit to Volodymyr Zelensky at the joint press conference he held with on Saturday a little after midnight.
Erdoğan said he had discussed the exchange of Russian and Ukrainian prisoners of war with Zelenskyi, adding that he would also discuss the issue with Putin.
– I talked about it with Putin and he will also visit Turkey next month. Then we will have a chance to talk about it face to face again, Erdoğan said.
Putin’s advisor Yuri Ushakov told Russia’s Interfax news agency in June that the president was planning a visit to Turkey. At that time, according to Ushakov, there was still no precise information about the time of the visit.
Putin’s upcoming visit would be his first to Turkey or a NATO country since Russia launched its full-scale war of aggression in Ukraine in February last year.
Putin last time in Turkey in January 2020
Putin’s previous visit to Turkey was in January 2020. In the same month, Putin’s previous visit to a NATO country also took place, when he visited Germany in the latter half of the month.
Putin has traveled abroad only a few times in the last year and a half. Last year, his visits abroad were mainly aimed at allied countries such as Iran and the countries of the CSTO, which consists of Russia and its neighboring countries.
Putin was issued an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in March, which may have further increased Putin’s reluctance to travel abroad, especially to countries that have ratified the ICC Statute.
Countries that have signed and ratified the Constitution are obliged to arrest a person who has been issued an arrest warrant if they are found in the country. Turkey has not signed the ICC Statute.
Sources: Reuters