Turkish President Erdogan announces Putin’s upcoming visit to Turkey and discusses Ukraine’s NATO membership

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Turkey in August.

– Next month, Putin will visit Turkey, Erdogan said at a press conference together with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi.

It will be Putin’s first visit to Turkey since the Russian invasion of Ukraine last February. Erdogan said he would, among other things, discuss a prisoner exchange with Putin.

Incidentally, he said that Ukraine deserves to become a member of NATO, but at the same time he urged Ukraine to start negotiations with Russia.

– There is no doubt that Ukraine deserves membership in NATO, he said, adding that “both parties should resume peace talks”.

At the press conference after the talks with Zelenskyj, Erdogan also said that he hopes the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea can be extended beyond July 17, and that the extensions can be for three months instead of the current two months.

He also emphasized that he will continue his efforts to stop the war in Ukraine and support reconstruction once the war is over.

Zelenskyj arrived in Istanbul after visiting the Czech Republic and Slovakia and was expected to discuss the grain deal, peace talks with Russia, the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius and defense contracts