Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to visit Iran next week for talks with his counterpart Ebrahim Raisi and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Kremlin said.
“The president’s trip to Tehran is being prepared” for July 19 and the three leaders will discuss the situation in Syria within the so-called Astana peace process, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call Tuesday. “In addition to the trilateral meeting, of course, there will also be bilateral meetings.”
This will be Putin’s first foreign trip outside republics of the former Soviet Union since he ordered Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine. He visited Tajikistan and Turkmenistan late last month. With the war now in its fifth month, the announcement came after U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan warned Monday that Iran is preparing to send Moscow hundreds of drones, including ones capable of carrying weapons, and to train Russian troops to use them as soon as this month.
The summit follows phone talks between Putin and Erdogan on Monday in which the two leaders discussed “coordinating efforts” to enable safe grain exports from Black Sea ports, according to a Kremlin readout. Erdogan also spoke Monday to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, including about “the formation of secure corridors” for grain exports via the Black Sea, according to the Turkish president’s website.
Global grain supplies are being strained by the war amid disruptions to exports, sending food prices soaring.
With Russia seeking a bigger foothold in the key Chinese oil market to try to offset the impact of U.S. and European sanctions over the war, Iran is being forced to discount its already cheap crude even more to compete. Russian exports to China surged to a record in May, as the OPEC+ producer overtook its cartel ally Saudi Arabia as the top supplier to the world’s biggest importer.
