Putin himself previously reported that the agreement on the meeting was reached before the presidential and parliamentary elections in Türkiye, but due to political reasons it was postponed, so that it would not appear as an attempt to influence the outcome of the elections.

Although Putin and Erdogan are in constant communication, the upcoming meeting in Sochi will be the first face-to-face contact between the two leaders since Russia withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

Erdogan’s trip to Sochi will be an opportunity for the two leaders to clarify problematic issues in relations, which have recently become tense, with some disagreement on both sides.

According to Turkish analysts, Moscow does not look approvingly on the warming of relations between Ankara and Washington, and is unhappy with Türkiye’s recent decision to return the commanders of the nationalist Azov regiment to Ukraine and supports Kiev in the conflict.

Türkiye, in turn, is very upset by the collapse of the grain deal, which it strongly promoted, and by the fact that its mediation efforts in the Ukrainian conflict have so far failed to produce, at the very least, an interim result.

The leaders will also address the Syrian issue. Taking into account the situation in Ukraine, the attention to what is happening there has slightly decreased, but the work continues.

Peskov specified that they are also planning to discuss issues related to the further development of mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation, as well as current international affairs.

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