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Intel: How Russia and Turkey are growing closer at US expense

The April 30 phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan covered a broad range of topics, from trade to military cooperation to Syria, as the two countries continue to grow closer amid US-Turkey tensions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attend a meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia April 8, 2019. Maxim Shipenkov/Pool via REUTERS - RC1F7E5638C0

The April 30 phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan covered a broad range of topics, including trade, military cooperation and Syria, as the two countries continue to grow closer amid US-Turkey tensions. The two leaders endorsed the imminent launch of a constitutional committee for war-torn Syria — an issue Russia strongly promoted at recent talks in the Kazakh capital of Nur-Sultan — and agreed to continue “close coordination of efforts to stabilize the situation in Idlib.” According to the Kremlin, they also “spoke in favor” of achieving a cease-fire in Libya and resuming a political settlement process there under the UN aegis “as soon as possible.”

Why it matters: The tug of war between Russia and the United States over Turkey that has been going on for several years has acquired a new dimension with Moscow’s pending sale of the S-400 missile system to Ankara and the respective pushback on the deal from Washington. Putin’s latest conversation with Erdogan sheds light on Russia’s strategy for wooing the NATO member away from the United States.

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