TURKEY: Putin And Erdogan Discuss Energy Agreements At SCO Meeting

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Erdogan have concluded a meeting at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Leaders' Summit in Samarkand.

• Per Turkey's Diriliş Postası, Putin said: "Turkey has become one of the most reliable routes for the supply of our energy resources, including natural gas, not only for its own needs, but also for the European Union."
• Putin noted, on an arrangement agreed in Sochi on Aug 5: "Russia's agreement to pay 25 percent of gas supplies to Turkey in rubles will enter into force shortly."
• Putin also said that he hopes the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, a joint venture between Russia and Turkey based on an agreement signed in 2010, will be operational next year.
• The meeting comes amid a flareup of violence between Azerbaijan and Armenia around the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Turkey was instrumental in the Azeri victory in 2020 seen as raising Turkey's influence in the South Caucasus, at the expense of Russia.
• Observers noted that Erdogan kept Putin waiting ahead of the meeting for the second time in as many meetings, illustrating the shifting power dynamic between the two leaders.