Russian President Vladimir Putin has again announced that he is postponing his visit to Turkey originally planned in February, according to Russia’s state-run RIA news agency, coinciding with a new Russian military offensive in Ukraine.
The information comes despite the fact that hours earlier the Kremlin’s own spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, confirmed that preparations for the meeting between Putin and Erdoğan were continuing as planned; also, Turkish government sources assured last week that the Russian leader would visit Turkey next 12 February.
If this new postponement is confirmed, it would be at least the third time that Putin has postponed his visit to Turkey – the Russian president’s first visit to a NATO member country since the invasion of Ukraine – since last year, after Erdoğan himself initially announced that Putin would visit Turkey in April, and then in September 2023. During the meeting, Erdoğan plans to address the situation in Ukraine and the resumption of the vital grain deal, but also to discuss agreements on Russian gas exports through Turkey.
The announcement of a further postponement of Putin’s expected visit to Turkey coincides with the start of a major Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine to try to take the city of Avdiivka, a strategic Ukrainian-held industrial enclave a few kilometres from Donetsk. The Ukrainian mayor of the town confirmed that “the enemy is pressing from all directions” and that the Russian army is attacking “with huge forces”. The fall of Avdiivka would serve as a boost for Putin on the eve of the two-year anniversary of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, and with Russian presidential elections in March just around the corner.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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