MOSCOW, August 2. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a telephone conversation agreed to prepare for a potential personal meeting, the Kremlin press service reported.

"[The sides] agreed to continue contacts at various levels, including in the context of preparations for the potential meeting between the two leaders," the statement said.

The Turkish leader’s office earlier said that Erdogan and Putin had agreed on the Russian president’s visit to Turkey.

On June 29, Putin told reporters that he did not rule out his visit to Turkey. At the same time, the Russian president said that Erdogan's coming to Russia was also possible. Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov earlier said that Putin’s visit to Turkey was planned by Moscow and Ankara, but the sides had not yet agreed on the dates.

The current telephone conversation between Putin and Erdogan is the tenth since the beginning of the year. In April, the leaders took part in the ceremony to mark the delivery of nuclear fuel to Turkey’s Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant via videoconference. The last personal meeting between Putin and Erdogan took place in October 2022.