Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pledged to increase trade flows between Türkiye and Russia following a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday.
In a statement released after the call, Erdogan’s office said that he and Putin discussed “Türkiye-Russia bilateral relations as well as regional and global issues,”with Erdogan stating that he aims “to further the cooperation between Türkiye and Russia in many areas, particularly by expanding the trade volume” between the two countries.
The Kremlin released a similar statement, confirming that Erdogan and Putin talked about “a number of international topics,” and placed “an emphasis on increasing the effectiveness of trade and economic cooperation.”
Türkiye is the world’s third-largest buyer of Russian crude oil and Moscow is its most valuable import partner, according to data compiled by the World Bank.
Erdogan and Putin have met on several occasions since Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. Most recently, the pair spoke at the BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan in October. Ankara announced in September that it had formally applied to become a full-fledged BRICS member, making it the first NATO state to do so.
Lavrov told Hurriyet that Russia would support Türkiye’s application, and backs expanding ties between the BRICS group and countries “who share a focus on strengthening multilateral principles, pursue a sovereign foreign policy, and do not join unilateral sanctions.”
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