Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov begins a two-day visit to Turkey on Thursday at the invitation of his Turkish counterpart, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, TASS reports.
He is expected to hold talks on a wide range of issues, including energy matters, the situation in Ukraine, the implementation of the grain deal, as well as measures to normalize the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and in Ankara’s dialogue with Damascus.
The visit is taking place in a turbulent period in Turkey. The country was affected by a series of devastating earthquakes in February, which claimed the lives of at least 50,000 people. Post-quake recovery efforts continue with support from Russia and other countries. Concurrently, a presidential election campaign is underway in that country ahead of the polls on May 14.
However, despite the difficult domestic situation, Ankara continues active participation in international life and declares its commitment to the plans of the quick implementation of the gas hub project. Apart from that, it wants to organize peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
The two foreign ministers are expected to discuss the entire spectrum of international and bilateral topics, as well as Turkey’s initiatives. Along with that, according to the Russian foreign ministry, Lavrov and Çavuşoğlu are likely to exchange views on the problems of security for Russian nationals in Turkey during the vacations season.
The grain deal will be among the central topics of the Russian-Turkish talks. The two top diplomats addressed the most sensitive aspects of the deal during their contacts on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty meeting in New Delhi in early March. Th Russian side stressed back then that the extension of the package agreement on grain "is possible only if the interests of Russian producers of agricultural products and fertilizers are taken into account." The Russian minister noted later that that only the first part of the deal, namely safe export of Ukrainian grain from Ukrainian ports across the Black Sea, is being implemented whereas the second part of the deal - the removal of obstacles for exports of Russian grain and fertilizers - "is not implemented at all."
Due to such disbalance, according to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin, the Russian side decided to extend the grain deal for only 60 days, instead of 120 days, as expected, after March 18. This period will be enough to objectively assess the implementation of the United Nations’ promises to unblock exports of Russian agricultural products, he argued. The Russian position was conveyed to the partners under the deal.
Taking into account Moscow’s concerns, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he had suggested Russian grain be processed into flour in Turkey to be further exported to the least developed countries. It is not ruled out that this initiative and other aspects of the grain deal will be discussed in detail during Lavrov’s visit to Turkey.
Another important topic will be Putin’s initiative to create a gas hub in Turkey. The Turkish president noted that despite "the delays because of the earthquake," Ankara is sparing no effort to implement this project as soon as possible. The Turkish ministry of energy and natural resources told TASS that the gas hub projects will be commissioned this year. It is expected that during the current talks, the sides will be able to clarify the issue of the project’s implementation terms.
Apart from that, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told journalists ahead of Lavrov’s visit that the two foreign ministers would agree "a schedule of bilateral contacts at various levels." Erdogan said earlier that he did not rule out that his Russian counterpart would visit Turkey to attend a ceremony of loading nuclear fuel at the Akkuyu NPP, which is planned for April 27. The Kremlin said however that no decision on this matter had been made as of yet but promised that "the Russian side will be duly represented this or that way." Lavrov’s visit will probably clarify aspects of this topic.
The sides are also expected to touch upon international and regional problems. The Turkish leader has repeatedly said that he wants to organize talks between Russia and Ukraine and the ministers are likely to address this topic as well.
It is not ruled out that Lavrov and Çavuşoğlu will discuss the current situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. In late February, Lavrov met with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Jeyhun Bayramov in Baku and received Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in Moscow. During their talks in Ankara, Lavrov and Çavuşoğlu will probably coordinate their positions on this matter and outline areas of further contacts during the second 3+3 meeting (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, and Russia, Iran, Turkey). The Russian foreign ministry said ahead of the visit that it is planned to "discuss in detail" issues of strengthening cooperation in the South Caucasus, including the resumption of relations between Armenia and Turkey.
