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At summit, Erdogan, Putin still divided on Syria

Ankara agreed that part of its natural gas payments to Moscow would be switched to rubles.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) during a meeting in Sochi, on Aug. 5, 2022.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed that Ankara would switch part of its payment for Russian natural gas to rubles, in what appeared to be the most concrete result of their four-hour long meeting in the Black Sea resort town of Sochi today.

“We are gradually switching to national currencies, and at the first stage part of supplies will be paid in Russian rubles. This is really a new stage, new opportunities, including for the development of our monetary and financial relations,” Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters after the meeting.

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