Russian president Vladimir Putin on Tuesday (27 August) welcomed in Moscow the president of Turkey, Recip Tayip Erdogan.The meeting took place at Zhukovsky International Airport in Russia where the annual MAKS-2019 Russian aviation and space fair, was taking place. The meeting lasted one hour and 20 minutes.
The two leaders discussed recent developments in Syria, particularly the tense situation in Idlib and ongoing Turkish-American efforts to set up a safe zone on the Turkish-Syrian border in the northeastern Euphrates.
Turkey has expressed concerns over the intensified military actions of the Syrian Government near Idlib on the grounds that they can ignite a humanitarian crisis and a fresh refugee influx. Turkey has warned Damascus to back off from Idlib and not to interfere in the operations of the Turkish forces operating in the region.
Vladimir Putin also took the opportunity to introduce to the Turkish leader the advanced Russian fighter Su-57 that was showcased at the MAKS 2019 air show.
The two leaders mounted the airplane ladder and examined it. Then the Russian and Turkish defense ministers joined the presidents, after which they continued the discussion of what they had seen.
Later Putin told journalists, "We talked about cooperation on the Su-35 and even on the possible work on the new Su-57 plane". "We have plenty of options and we have demonstrated new weapon systems and new electronic warfare complexes," Putin said."To my mind, many things evoked the interest of our Turkish partners not only from the viewpoint of the purchase but also from the viewpoint of the joint production," the Russian leader added."As a matter of fact, we are ready for this and will be actively discussing specific areas," Putin said.
source: commonspace.eu with agencies
photo: Vladimir Putin showing the Turkish president Recip Tayip Erdogan the advanced Russian fighter Su-57 that was showcased at the MAKS 2019 air show on 27 August 2019 (picture courtesy of the Tass News Agency, Moscow)
