On Dec. 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Ankara to meet his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Turkish capital was the third destination of Putin’s one-day tour, during which he also visited Syria and Egypt. In November, the two leaders met twice in the Russian resort city of Sochi, when the Syrian crisis was dominating the agenda. This time, the talks focused on US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move the US Embassy to that city, with the Syrian conflict still an important part of the discussion.
“Naturally, the focus was placed on the Middle East situation [and peace process] that has deteriorated dramatically and on Syrian affairs, where our countries are closely cooperating,” Putin told journalists after the talks with Erdogan.
Putin said Moscow and Ankara agree that the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital is having a destabilizing effect in the region.
“Both Russia and Turkey believe that the decision of the United States’ administration to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move its embassy to that city in no way promotes the settlement of the situation in the Middle East. On the contrary, it destabilizes the situation in the region, which is already tense,” Putin said.
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