The tsar proposes to create the largest gas deposit in Europe in Turkey. Peskov on the negotiations: if there are concrete proposals we are ready to examine them
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MOSCOW – In the photos, the most smiling is always Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Even yesterday the president of Turkey did his job. Great declarations of principle, and just as much optimism. “A fair peace in Ukraine can be achieved with the help of diplomacy”, he said underlining that in war there will be no winners while in a just peace there are no losers. «Our goal is to stop the bloodshed as soon as possible, reaching an armistice ».
There was great expectation for the conversation between Erdogan and Vladimir Putin, which took place in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, during the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia. A few days ago, the Turkish newspaper Nationalityvery close to his government, he wrote that Ankara had already transmitted the proposal to organize to Washington a dialogue of Western countries with Russia on Ukraine. In the absence of any representative from Kiev, because this seems to be the most important prejudice placed by Moscow in any negotiations.
The expected meeting lasted about an hour and a half, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. There was no talk of peace, but of business. “The issue of a Russian-Ukrainian recomposition has not been discussed.” The Russian president complimented his counterpart. “Despite the difficulties, she and I still find the opportunity to meet regularly, to communicate, and this produces good results.” For Turkey, of course. Indeed, Putin proposed to Erdogan to create in his country the largest gas depot in Europe. “If there is your interest and that of any other buyers, we could do it and adjust prices to a normal market level, without any political influence.”
Turkey is more and more the only European state that welcomes Putin and Russia with open arms. In 2022, trade between the two countries has already exceeded fifty billion dollars, well over 34 in 2021, which was already a record. Since the beginning of the year, they are almost ten thousand Russians who bought a house in Turkey. And then there is politics. “Thanks to the collaboration with Turkey, and not with the West, Russia remains in the international Serie A, as the sportsmen say”. The thesis of the political scientist Stanislav Tarasov is clear. But when a summit ends with nothing, it is legitimate to question the causes. Some analysts on the Russian side say they are convinced of the slowdown by the US, which wants to await the outcome of the Ukrainian counter-offensive. Others argue that Moscow prefers to go it alone, without resorting to intermediaries.
Sergey Lavrov, certainly not by chance intercepted in the corridors of the Astana Conference by the correspondent of the state agency Izvestia, seems to be addressing the US directly. “We don’t say we’re open to dialogue out of the blue. In the West they continue to say that there is no talk with Russia, that Zelensky will talk to us when his negotiating position is stronger. Hence, we are obligated to say that no one has approached us with serious proposals. We will not run after anyone. Washington, as they say in our country, has seven Fridays in a week, almost as many as Zelensky has. So, we don’t give any suggestions. But if there are concrete and serious proposals, we will be ready to examine them ».
With very distant positions, with great slowness, the diplomacy train seems to be moving again. This is also confirmed by Peskov’s latest statement, marked by a notable political realism. “The objectives of the Special Military Operation do not change. However, we reiterate that we are willing to reach them through negotiations “. But the road is still long, and at the moment it is not clear who the driver could be.
October 13, 2022 (change October 13, 2022 | 22:52)
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