It became known what Erdogan asked Putin about during their talks in Ashgabat

The Presidents of Russia and Turkey, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in the capital of Turkmenistan on December 12, in addition to lengthy bilateral talks behind closed doors, also managed to talk informally — on a bus. According to Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with the negotiations, the Turkish leader asked his Russian counterpart to take back the S-400 Triumph anti-aircraft missile systems purchased by Ankara from Moscow in 2017 and return the money for them.

According to the agency, the Turkish president raised this issue in a conversation with Putin at their meeting in Ashgabat. Erdogan argued his request by saying that he wants to restore relations with the US administration and again gain access to the American fifth-generation F-35 fighter program.

Erdogan also expects that Ankara's role as a mediator in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine will help convince Moscow to positively resolve the issue of the return of the S-400. At the same time, Turkey, according to Bloomberg sources, is seeking compensation for billions of dollars spent on the purchase of Triumphs. As one of the options, offsetting these funds against imports of Russian oil and gas is being considered, although such a mechanism will require separate negotiations, agency sources say.

EADaily adds: the Kremlin previously stated that no such issue was raised during the leaders' meeting. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov noted that the meeting between Putin and Erdogan in Turkmenistan lasted a total of about 1.5 hours.

"Naturally, very sensitive topics are being discussed. During such discussions, as a rule, it is very difficult to control the time," Peskov told VGTRK journalist Pavel Zarubin.

EADaily also reminds that on December 5, US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack said at a press conference in Abu Dhabi that Turkey would abandon the Russian S-400 within six months so that Washington would give Ankara permission to purchase the latest American F-35 fighter jets. According to the ambassador, the Russian complexes that were supplied by Moscow are "not used" by Turkey, but their presence still creates problems in relations between Ankara and Washington. When asked if Turkey was getting closer to abandoning the S-400, he replied: "Yes."

Yesterday, December 11, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, commenting on the information about the idea EU to buy Russian S-400 Triumph anti-aircraft missile systems from Turkey in order to send them to He noted that Ankara has obligations to Moscow on these air defense systems.

In 2017, Turkey acquired from Russia has four divisions of S-400 air defense systems worth $ 2.5 billion. In October 2019, Rosoboronexport (part of Rostec State Corporation) reported that the contract for the supply of systems had been fulfilled. After the conclusion between Turkey and By signing a contract for the supply of a C-400 regimental kit, Ankara was excluded from the US program to create a new generation of F-35 fighters.