Venezuelan president, top Russian diplomat overlap in Turkey
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro were in Ankara on the same day.
ISTANBUL — Two world figures under Western sanctions were guests at the same building in Ankara on Wednesday.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro both arrived at Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s presidential palace within hours of each other but, according to Maduro, they did not meet.
Lavrov, who faces restrictions from several countries on his travel due to sanctions over Russia’s war against Ukraine, was in Ankara for a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.
No explanation was given as to why this meeting was held at Erdogan’s Bestepe complex rather than, as is usual, at the Foreign Ministry a short distance away.
