Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkiye, announced that Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, may visit Turkiye on the 27th of next month.
On the 29th (local time), President Erdogan mentioned in an interview with a local broadcaster that they are considering having President Putin attend the completion ceremony of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, which is under construction in G?lnar, Mersin Province in the south.
Russian state-owned company Rosatom has been constructing Turkiye's first nuclear power plant, Akkuyu, since 2018. However, Putin's actual attendance is still undecided.
President Erdogan said, "President Putin may come to the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant completion ceremony on April 27," adding, "Alternatively, there might be a way to connect online."
President Putin was issued an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the 17th of last month on charges of war crimes. However, Russia, a non-member of the ICC, does not recognize this.
If Putin visits Turkiye in April, it would be his first visit outside the former Soviet sphere since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year. Turkiye is also a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which supports Ukraine.
President Erdogan stated, "If it were not for our efforts over the past two years, the West would have dragged Turkiye into a war with Russia," adding, "As long as we are in power, such a thing will not happen."
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