President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and President Vladimir Putin of Russia met as part of their contacts in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana, on the occasion of the 6th Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) and made statements.
President Erdoğan stated that if he attends, they will have another opportunity to meet with Putin in Samarkand in the future.
Emphasising that the development of Ro-Ro transportation to Russian ports, particularly Novorossiysk, and the launch of RO-PAX ferry services, will create a multiplier effect in bilateral trade, President Erdoğan said:
"Akkuyu is a critical step in this process. As you stated regarding Akkuyu, launching its first turbine in the first half of next year will cause a significant global resound. By the way, we also talked about Sinop with you. If a step can be taken regarding Sinop, of course, it would have an extraordinary multiplier effect. While Akkuyu meets our 10 per cent energy need, the second Sinop, when it meets another 10 per cent, the global resound of these two nuclear power plants meeting the 20 per cent of our energy needs will cause is going to be very extraordinary."
Grain and Fertiliser Shipment
Underscoring that one of the important topics of discussion was grain and fertiliser shipment, President Erdoğan noted:
“We are determined to strengthen and continue the Istanbul Agreement and to ship the Russian grain and fertiliser to less-developed countries over Türkiye. We can make this shipment to less-developed countries over Türkiye. We can even determine the names of the countries through collaboration. It is critical for us to prioritise impoverished and needy countries above developed countries throughout this period. This move, I believe, will tip the scales in a positive direction. I believe that the steps Türkiye and Russia will take during this process will annoy some circles, but please less-developed countries on the other hand. Obviously, our determination and the joint works of our officials are of utmost importance. I think the works to be carried out by our respective Ministers of Foreign Affairs, as well as Ministers of Agriculture and Forestry and Energy, will further strengthen us.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin recalled their meeting with President Erdoğan in Sochi, Russia, in August and said:
"The agreements reached in Sochi are being carried out. Our governments and corporations carry out the plans that have been established. This is equally true for the investment process and construction of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). The work is carried out in accordance with the plan. In the field, 20,000 people are employed. We are keeping to the schedule. It appears that we will be able to meet our agreements and start up the first power unit of the power plant on the 100th foundation anniversary of the Republic of Türkiye."
"We are prepared to establish a natural gas distribution hub in Türkiye"
Putin added that natural gas and hydrocarbon supplies from Russia to Türkiye were "complete," citing an increase in trade volume between the two nations both last year and this year.
Putin went on to say, "We ship natural gas to European countries via Türkiye. Türkiye has proven itself to be the most reliable route to deliver natural gas to the European Union.”
Putin emphasised that this was made possible by President Erdoğan's firm position regarding the TurkStream natural gas pipeline while adding that there have been attempts to blow up a portion of the pipeline on Russian soil.
Putin voiced their preparedness to establish a natural gas distribution hub in Türkiye, saying, “This hub would be a platform not only for supplies but also for determining gas prices because this is a very important issue. Today, these prices are sky-high. We could easily regulate the prices at a normal market level without political overtones.”
"We are implementing the deal on exporting grain to foreign markets thanks to your initiatives”
Citing the Ukraine Grain Deal, Putin said, “We are implementing the deal on exporting Ukrainian grain to foreign markets thanks to your initiatives, but only a small portion of the grain reaches the poorest countries. The countries that receive grain from Ukraine under the İstanbul agreement owe Erdoğan gratitude. The United Nations (UN) will address issues pertaining to grain allocation.”
President Putin of Russia expressed his pleasure to have met with President Erdoğan yet on another occasion.