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Putin to meet his Turkish counterpart Erdogan in Kazakhstan
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Monday (Oct 10) that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin may meet in the Kazakh capital of Astana later this week.
Putin and Erdoğan will travel this week to Kazakhstan and the leaders may hold a meeting on the sidelines of the main events, Peskov told reporters at a press briefing in Moscow.
Peskov responded negatively when asked if Ankara passed to Russia any proposals on holding talks between Russia and the West, but he said it may be raised at the Erdoğan-Putin meeting.
The Kremlin spokesperson also announced Putin's other meetings on Tuesday with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi in Saint Petersburg.
He also said Putin will hold several separate meetings in Astana on the sidelines of the Russia-Central Asia summit.
Erdogan and Putin last met in mid-September in Uzbekistan on the sidelines of a summit of the leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Moscow was open to talks with the West on the Ukraine war but had yet to receive any serious proposal to negotiate.
Sergey Lavrov: Russia open to talks with West, awaiting serious proposal
Following major setbacks on the battlefield last month as Ukrainian forces launched successful counteroffensives to liberate territories occupied by Russian troops, Putin said during a speech announcing that four Ukrainian regions were now part of Russia that Moscow "is ready" for talks with Ukraine.
Zelenskiy has rejected the talks, saying Ukraine will speak to the "next" Russian president, implying that talks can proceed only after Putin is removed.
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