Jerusalem, missile defense dominate Putin's quick Turkey visit
During his speed visit to the region, Putin stopped over in Ankara to discuss Trump's Jerusalem move with Erdogan as well as moving forward with the sale of the S-400 missile defense system to Turkey.
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.
