Lavrov To Visit Turkey 1-2 March

A Foreign Ministry spox has confirmed that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will travel to Turkey from 1-2 March. The confirmation of Lavrov's visit comes a short time after President Vladimir Putin's trip, originally scheduled for 12 Feb has been pushed backsignificantly to late April or May. Lavrov is set to take part in a diplomatic forum in Anatalya, a forum that will also include a representative from the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

• The meeting will be the first between Russian and Armenian officials since PM Nikol Pashinyan pulled his country out of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), the Russian-led mutual defence pact formed in the aftermath of the collapse of the USSR.
• Earlier in Feb, Reuters noted that Russia-Turkey trade was being impacted a US executive order complicating payments. The report claims that the move has "...chilled Turkish-Russian trade, disrupting or slowing some payments for both imported oil and Turkish exports, [...] The U.S. executive order in December did not explicitly target energy but it has complicated some Turkish payments for Russian crude as well as Russian payments for a broader range of Turkish exports..."