Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held a phone call on Sunday to discuss regional and international issues, according to Turkish presidential sources and a Kremlin statement.
The two leaders discussed Moscow's proposals to the US and NATO of security guarantees for Russia, said the Kremlin, AA (Anadolu Agency) reports.
Russia said security guarantees may defuse the tensions over Ukraine, where a Russian military buildup along the border has led to warnings from the US and NATO.
The statement also said that during the meeting, various regional issues were discussed, including the Caucasus, Syria, and Libya.
Russia has recently been mentioned as the possible venue for normalization talks between Turkey and the Caucasus state of Armenia.
During the phone call, both leaders reiterated their commitment to intensify the mutually beneficial partnership between Russia and Turkey.
Prior to that, the tensions between Russia and Turkey mounted over drones and NATO. Turkey, a NATO member since 1952, has angered Moscow by supplying combat drones to Ukraine that Russia fears could be used by Kiev in its conflict with separatists in two eastern regions, Turkish Minute reports.
Last month, Putin criticized Kiev for deploying Turkish-made drones in its conflict with pro-Moscow separatists.
Ankara says it cannot be blamed for Ukraine’s use of Turkish drones, adding if a state buys Turkish weaponry, it is no longer a Turkish product but belongs to the country which buys it.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu urged Russia last week to drop “one-sided” demands and adopt a more constructive approach in its standoff with Western powers and NATO over Ukraine.
Russia wants NATO to provide Moscow with a binding security guarantee and withdraw its forces to positions they held before a wave of eastward expansion that began after the Soviet Union’s collapse.
