Officials are warning of retaliation if Ankara helps Moscow evade sanctions after Erdogan and Putin agreed to expand cooperation.
Western capitals increasingly alarmed by deepening economic cooperation between Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin, warning of the growing risk that a NATO member state could face punitive retaliation if it helps Russia avoid sanctions.
Six Western officials told the Financial Times they were concerned about a pledge Friday by Turkish and Russian leaders to expand their trade and energy cooperation after a four-hour meeting in Sochi.
One EU official said the 27-member bloc is “more and more closely” monitoring Turkish-Russian cooperation, expressing concern that Turkey is “increasingly” becoming a platform for trade with Russia.
Washington has repeatedly warned that it will hit countries that help Russia evade sanctions with “secondary sanctions” aimed at violations outside of US legal jurisdiction, but the EU is doing so with more restraint.
U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo met with Turkish officials and Istanbul bankers in June to warn them not to become a conduit for illicit Russian money.
One senior Western official suggested that countries could call on their companies and banks to leave Turkey if Erdogan honors the commitments he outlined on Friday, a highly unusual threat against another NATO member that could hurt the country’s economy worth 800 billion dollars. if foreign firms agreed to comply.
Recall, Erdogan and Putin met yesterday, August 5. According to the Russians, Turkish President agreed pay partly for Russian gas in rubles.
Subsequently, Erdogan stated that again proposed Head of the Kremlin Vladimir Putin to meet with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. According to him, what is important now is the effective implementation of the plan and the transformation of a positive atmosphere into concrete steps towards returning to the negotiations in Istanbul.
After the talks, First Aide to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Fahrettin Altun declaredthat the world “cannot end the war in Ukraine by ignoring Russia.”
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