Elena Teslova
02 February 2024•Update: 02 February 2024
MOSCOW
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to discuss the situation in Ukraine, as well as strengthening economic and trade ties, during his upcoming meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Peskov said at a news conference in Moscow that the date of Putin's visit to Türkiye would be announced "in due time."
"Of course, regional issues, are always discussed… and, of course, Ukraine. Every meeting between Putin and Erdogan has a packed agenda. Of course, the primary focus would be bilateral Russian-Turkish relations, as well as our trade and economic cooperation," he said.
Türkiye is "one of the few countries that has taken a fairly principled and independent position" and continues to build trade and economic cooperation with Russia despite "significant external pressure," he said.
Earlier, Turkish media reported that Putin and Erdogan would meet in Türkiye on Feb.12.
Concerning the Jan. 24 major incident of shooting down a Russian military plane Il-76 in the country's Belgorod region, Peskov said no country has yet responded to Russia's request for an international investigation.
Regarding Ukraine's desire to transport the bodies of its military personnel killed in the catastrophe, Peskov said this will be coordinated through the institutions responsible for handling such affairs.
On Jan. 24, Russia's Defense Ministry accused Ukraine of downing a plane carrying 65 captured Ukrainian servicemen for a prisoner exchange.
The crew and all passengers on the plane were killed, it said, calling it "a terrorist attack" carried out to accuse Russia of killing Ukrainian servicemen.
Ukraine's Defense Intelligence, for its part, claimed that the incident was a "planned and deliberate" action by Moscow to "destabilize" the situation.
