A Russian presidential aide on Monday revealed that President Vladimir Putin's visit to Türkiye is planned for February.
"Yes, a visit is being prepared," Yuri Ushakov told reporters in St. Petersburg in response to a question on the visit.
Ushakov said Ukraine, where Russia launched a "special military operation" nearly two years ago, will be one of the key points of the meeting between Putin and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
It would be Putin’s first overseas trip since then.
Ushakov also said Moscow is ready to enter into negotiations with Ukraine.
"We respond to requests from different countries about our readiness. We've said that we were ready from the very beginning, and it was not we who interrupted these negotiations. And we are now ready, but there is no one to talk to because the Ukrainian side has forbidden itself to negotiate with the Russians," he added.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said last week that preparations for Putin's visit to Türkiye are underway and that a date would be announced “as soon as the two leaders agree on the date of the visit.”
Putin and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan last met in the Russian city of Sochi in September on the heels of Ankara’s approval of Sweden’s long-awaited NATO application and a month after Moscow put on hold the key agreement that allowed Ukraine to export grain and other commodities from three Black Sea ports despite the 18-month war.
The pair had also discussed economic cooperation and the situation in Syria.
Ankara and Moscow have been at odds in Syria, where Russia has supported Bashar Assad’s regime and Türkiye has backed the opposition in the decadelong civil war.
