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Putin, Erdogan due to meet in January 2020 — Kremlin

The two leaders may have a talk earlier, if they find it necessary, the Kremlin spokesman said

MOSCOW, November 12. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan are scheduled to meet in January 2020 but may have a talk earlier, if they find it necessary.

"The ceremony heralding completion of all works on the Turkish Stream project is a good reason for personal contacts [between Putin and Erdogan]. It is scheduled to take place in January," Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media on Tuesday.

At the same time he remarked: "Putin and Erdogan agree to have telephone contacts rather quickly. In this case it can happen at any moment."

The Turkish Stream project provides for laying a gas pipeline under the Black Sea towards western Turkey and further on to the border with Greece. One gas carrier will deliver fuel to the Turkish market, and the other, to southern and southeastern Europe. Energy Minister Alexander Novak said the first unit of the Turkish Stream pipeline would go operational on January 1, 2020. On November 5, Peskov told TASS no exact date for launching Turkish Stream had been set yet.

On Tuesday, Erdogan said he would like to have a telephone conversation with the Russian leader after a two-day visit to the United States, where he is going to discuss Syria with President Donald Trump.

Putin and Erdogan talked by telephone on November 9.