Putin’s visit to Türkiye postponed, sources say

ANKARA/MOSCOW

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s planned visit to Türkiye for Feb. 12 has been postponed at the request of the Russian side due to the looming elections in both countries, the diplomatic sources said.

Although there was no official statement about Putin’s visit to Türkiye in February, where he would meet President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, both Russian and Turkish senior officials had admitted the plans for a meeting between the two leaders in the coming days.

However, two Russian websites have reported that the visit will take place in either late April or early May. The diplomatic sources said the request for the postponement came from the Russian side.

Putin will seek reelection to the presidency in polls slated for March 15 and 17, while President Erdoğan will lead his Justice and Development Party (AKP) to the municipal elections to take place on March 31.

Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters that no date was announced for Putin’s travel to Türkiye so it would not be appropriate to talk about a cancellation. He informed that talks with Ankara to set a date for a meeting between the two leaders are ongoing.

If realized, Türkiye would be the first Western and NATO country Putin would pay a visit after he staged a war against Ukraine in February 2022.

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, in an interview before the cancellation of Putin’s visit, had underlined that the revival of the grain corridor would be one of the top issues on the agenda with Ankara initiating a new mechanism to allow both Russia and Ukraine to import grain and fertilizers to the world markets.

The visit would also create an opportunity for the two sides to review the substantial bilateral cooperation in the fields of energy, economy, trade and logistics. Russia is currently constructing Türkiye’s first nuclear plant in Akkuyu which is expected to generate around 10 percent of the electricity needs of the entire country.