Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin and Erdogan held a “thorough exchange of views on Ukrainian affairs” while meeting in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, on the sidelines of the International Forum for Peace and Trust. The forum assumed something of an ironic air, given that Putin and other attendees, such as Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and a special envoy from China, have all launched unprovoked wars of aggression in recent years.
The event is held in Turkmenistan because it is the only country in the world to be granteda permanent status of “neutrality” by the United Nations, a recognition conferred by the U.N. General Assembly in 1995. The forum was held on Friday because December 12 was proclaimed as the “International Day of Neutrality” by the United Nations in 2017.
According to the Kremlin, the meeting between Putin, Erdogan, and their respective delegations followed up on a telephone conversation between the Russian and Turkish leaders on November 24, which was focused on the Ukraine conflict. Erdogan met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a week before that call and has been eager to host peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. (Ed note: Why is this important? One big reason is that both Pakistan and India possess nuclear weapons.) (Read More)