Kremlin: Putin could meet Erdoğan in near future

The Russian government is considering a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, but a concrete date has not yet been set, the Kremlin's spokesman said on Friday, as reported by Russian agencies.

Moscow has not ruled out a potential meeting, Dmitry Peskov was reported as saying. There has been speculation about such a meeting for weeks.

Peskov's comments come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is scheduled to meet Erdoğan on Friday. Moscow will follow those talks closely, Peskov said.

He stressed that Moscow and Ankara have maintained their relationship of a "constructive partnership" and Russia valued that highly. Therefore, Moscow is naturally interested in what is discussed between Erdoğan and Zelensky.

According to Turkish sources, one of the issues to be discussed at the meeting is the agreement on the shipment of Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea, which expires on July 17.

Russia is threatening not to renew the agreement, which was concluded last summer under the mediation of the United Nations and Türkiye.

Peskov pointed out that Erdoğan had "made great efforts several times for a settlement of various problems related to the Ukraine conflict."

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.