Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, on the sidelines of a regional summit in China on Monday, the Kremlin announced on Friday, confirming their first in-person encounter this year.
Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that the Ukraine war will be a central topic of discussion. “Turkey plays an important role in the Ukraine resolution process,” he said, without elaborating on specific proposals.
Putin and Erdoğan will be in Beijing for the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a regional security and economic bloc led by China that also includes Russia, several Central Asian states, India, Pakistan and Iran. The group has increasingly served as a platform for Moscow to project influence in the face of Western isolation since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Turkey, a NATO member that shares a Black Sea coastline with both Russia and Ukraine, has tried to position itself as a mediator since the start of the conflict. Ankara hosted three rounds of talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations earlier this year, although the negotiations failed to produce a breakthrough.
While Erdoğan’s government has consistently stated its support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, it has also refused to join Western-led sanctions against Moscow, maintaining trade ties and energy cooperation with Russia. That balancing act has allowed Ankara to cultivate a unique role as a go-between for Kyiv and Moscow, while also drawing criticism from some of Turkey’s Western allies.
The upcoming meeting in Beijing comes at a time when international efforts to revive peace talks remain stalled, even as fighting in Ukraine continues into its fourth year.