Putin/Erdogan Meeting Underway In Sochi

A meeting between Turkish President Recep Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin is underway in Sochi, Russia.

• AP reports that, "Putin tells Turkey's Erdogan he hopes to sign deal to boost economic cooperation."
  • There are concerns that closer economic cooperation between Moscow and Istanbul will allow Russia to bypass Western sanctions by disguising the origin of Russian oil exports.
• At the top of the meeting Putin said that, "European states should be grateful to Turkey for being able to buy Russian gas via TurkStream pipeline."
  • This is a reference to the continued undersupply of gas to Europe via the northern Nordstream 1 pipeline, which has been operating at ~20% capacity for the past week.
  • The Kremlin has blamed western sanctions and complications with turbines for impeding Nord Stream 1, but Western assumptions are that Russia is intentionally controlling supply to prevent the restock of EU gas stores ahead of the winter demand surge.
• Putin also said that discussions on Syria and other regional issues will be high on the agenda.
• Erdogan described the previous round of talks as "fruitful," and that he hopes a Russian build nuclear plant in southern Turkey will be completed on time.