Moscow and Ankara to strengthen dialogue in new year, says Putin

MOSCOW

Moscow and Ankara will maintain and enhance their bilateral political dialogue in the coming year, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his New Year's message to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Putin extended his New Year greetings to world leaders, a gesture he does every year on Dec. 30.

"In the upcoming year, Moscow and Ankara will further enhance their productive collaboration in diverse fields and bilateral political discourse for the advantage of fraternal nations, fortifying security and stability on the Eurasian continent," Putin expressed in his New Year greetings to Erdoğan.

According to the Kremlin press service, Putin acknowledged the significant progress made in enhancing collaborative relations between Russia and Türkiye, noting that the successful implementation of major energy and infrastructure projects, achieved through joint endeavors, plays a crucial role in resolving regional conflicts.

The two nations have also established an ambitious objective of increasing the bilateral trade turnover to $100 billion, and according to the evaluations of the presidents, the two countries are making significant progress towards achieving this goal.

While the Kremlin released the list of people Putin sent messages to, the Russian news agency Tass reported that the congratulatory list did not include "hostile countries" such as the United States, Britain, Germany, France, and Japan.

Putin has once again refrained from extending New Year greetings to Western leaders, who had imposed significant sanctions on Russia after the Ukraine war.