Putin, Erdogan did not discuss S-400 issue at their meeting: Kremlin

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday dismissed media reports that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed returning Russian S-400 air defense systems with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, during a meeting in Turkmenistan's capital of Ashgabat last week.

"That topic was not on the agenda," Peskov said at a press briefing in Moscow, referring to Putin and Erdogan's meeting on the sidelines of the International Peace and Trust Forum in Ashgabat.

In 2017, Türkiye purchased four S-400 air defense systems from Russia for $2.5 billion. Washington subsequently demanded that Ankara abandon the Russian systems in favor of American Patriot missiles. When Türkiye refused, the US removed it from the F-35 fighter jet program.

Turning to the situation around Venezuela, Peskov said Caracas is an ally and partner of Russia.

"Venezuela is our ally, our partner; we maintain constant contacts, including contacts at the highest level," he noted, adding that the presidents of Russia and Venezuela, Vladimir Putin and Nicolas Maduro, recently spoke over the telephone.

Peskov emphasized that Russia sees an escalation of tensions around Venezuela and considers it potentially extremely dangerous.

"We see an escalation of tensions in the (Latin American) region; we consider it potentially very dangerous," he stressed.

The statement came amid promises by Trump to soon begin strikes against "drug traffickers" in Venezuela as part of Washington's fight against narcotics trafficking off the coasts of Central and South America.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil announced that Caracas requested an urgent UN Security Council meeting in connection with the "open and criminal aggression" from Washington, which is threatening to seize the republic's oil resources.