Erdogan, Putin discuss nuclear power plant “Akkuyu”

SOCHI (TASS): Russian and Turkish Presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan completed talks in Sochi. The meeting, which began at about 13:30 Moscow time, lasted about three hours.
“Completed,” Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Russian president, told TASS when asked if negotiations were still ongoing.
The office of the Turkish leader also confirmed this information. No press statements were made on their results.
In the conversation, the leaders discussed the agenda in the field of economics and international relations. In particular, Putin noted the successful interaction of the two countries on the situation in Syria and Libya. He also dwelled on the work of the ceasefire control center in Karabakh. According to the Russian president, this cooperation is a “serious guarantee of stability” in the region.
Energy was also on the agenda. Putin thanked Erdogan for his position on the construction of the Turkish Stream, thanks to which Ankara feels confident during the difficulties in the European gas market. The Turkish President, in turn, touched upon the topic of a joint project – the construction of the country’s first nuclear power plant “Akkuyu”, the first power unit of which may be opened next year.
This face-to-face meeting of the two leaders was the first in the past year and a half. The last time they met was in March 2020 in the Kremlin, when Erdogan also paid a working visit to Russia. Due to the pandemic situation, follow-up negotiations were conducted by telephone or video conferencing in both bilateral and multilateral formats.
The meeting took place at Putin’s Sochi residence. The head of the Russian state flew there after a two-week self-isolation in Novo-Ogarevo near Moscow, associated with cases of covid identified in his environment.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan called the talks held in Sochi on Wednesday with Russian leader Vladimir Putin productive.
“After productive negotiations with my colleague Putin, we left Sochi,” he wrote on his Telegram channel , posting a photo with the President of the Russian Federation.
The meeting of the presidents lasted approximately two hours and 45 minutes. No press statements were made on their results.