According to Reuters, a Turkish ** revealed on January 31 that Russia** Putin will visit Turkey on February 12 to meet with Turkey** Erdogan. This will be Putin's first visit to a NATO member country since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Everyone has seen this news, and Putin's visit to Turkey at this point in time must be of special significanceIts significance is to declare that Russia still has friends in Europe, and it also means to show goodwill to NATO.
Since the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine, four countries have shown ambiguous and friendly attitudes towards Russia.
The 4 countries are:Hungary, Germany, France and Turkey
Hungary has close ties with Russia in energy, military-technical, economic cooperation, etc. Russia provides Hungary with a large amount of natural gas resources, and Hungary is also an important economic partner of Russia in Central and Eastern Europe.
Germany, on the other hand, needs a lot of energy to support its industrial and economic development, and Russia has just that.
And the previous prime ministerMerkel had a very good personal relationship with Putin during her tenure, and it was precisely because of this relationship that Germany's relationship with Russia was very strongMerkel chose to make friends with Russia for the sake of Germany's own interestsMerkel's goodwill towards Russia once made Putin see the possibility of Russia's integration into Western society
But the Russia-Ukraine war has brought about a shift in Germany's positionAlthough there have been wavers before and have been blamed by Ukraine, as the war escalated, Germany completely fell to Ukraine.
What about Hungary? Belong to the kind of good enough to give it is not **.
Previously, Ukraine and Sweden were denied to join NATO, and later in the European Union continued to obstruct support for Ukraine, and finally the EU decided to bypass Hungary to support Ukraine.
But Germany and Hungary belong to the internal contradictions of NATO, and they have not openly supported Russia.
France and Turkey are different.
Let's start with France.
Before the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, France** Macron and Putin have had many secret phone calls, and they have personally come to mediate.
On February 7, 2022, Russia's Vladimir Putin met with France's Macron in Moscow.
Macron said in the dark car: "I will do my best to coordinate the affairs of Russia and Ukraine, I am an old rival with Putin, and I have had many conversations, so I think there is still a chance for this (war-free), I will talk to him face to face tomorrow".
Macron said that "he feels that there is still a chance for peace", and the end result is in vain.
But it is certain that Macron and Putin have a good personal relationshipBut after the war also started, the war escalated, and France completely fell to Ukraine.
So Putin is left in Europe with Erdogan, a friend!
Erdogan is very smart.
Let's see how he handles relations between Russia and Ukraine.
After the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Turkey did not follow the lead of Western countries in imposing severe economic sanctions on Russia, but continued to maintain normal economic exchanges with Russia.
A delicate geopolitical balance is maintained between Turkey and Russia。As a member of NATO, Turkey maintains a delicate relationship with the United States on the one hand, mutual use and mutual checks and balances, and on the other hand, it also maintains in-depth political and economic cooperation with Russia.
First of all, Erdogan does not offend Putin and speaks for Putin.
Erdogan told ABC PBS that "Russia is just as reliable as the West," adding, adding, "We have been waiting at the door of the European Union for the past 50 years, and at this moment, I trust Russia as much as I trust the West." ”
After visiting Russia on September 4 and meeting with Russian Vladimir Putin, Erdogan also believes that the Russian leader wants to end his plight in Ukraine as soon as possible.
Erdogan said that "Mr. Putin is on the side of ending this war as soon as possible," Erdogan saidThat's what he said, and I believe what he says. ”
Erdogan is the only NATO leader who has visited Russia and met with Putin since the start of the war in Ukraine.
Although on the surface it is talking about the Black Sea grain issue, it understands everything.
The current situation between Ukraine and Russia is the background of this visit, the real purpose is to bring Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table, of course, in the end it is also in vain.
Turkey has always maintained close ties with RussiaErdogan has adopted a flexible foreign policy and has a good personal relationship with Putin, which is why Putin trusts him.
Putin's visit to Turkey is to tell NATO and the West that I still have friends here, although this may be the only one left, and a swinging friend.