Русский
The Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has met with Foreign Minister of Türkiye, Hakan Fidan on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro. The two ministers had an in-depth exchange of opinions on the current international situation, and discussed their key bilateral issues, including the implementation of strategic projects in the energy sector. They also assessed prospects for enhancing cooperation in light of the recent outcomes of the 19th session of the Russian-Turkish Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation. That meeting was held on June 17th in Moscow.
The two sides signed a protocol during that meeting, which expressed their intention to cooperate in numerous areas, including wastewater management, circular economy, zero waste policies, biodiversity, and the fight against climate change. Turkish Deputy Minister Mr. Bulut had also announced that preparations are underway for a new MoU between the two countries in environmental protection. The agreement is expected to target cooperation on numerous topics such as combating climate change, zero waste, biodiversity conservation, and combating desertification.
Russia is also lending support for Türkiye’s candidacy to host the COP31 Climate Summit in 2026.
The recent Joint Economic Commission (JEC) Protocol signed between the two countries is a road map that determines their future bilateral development strategy. It includes agreed areas of cooperation to be taken to reach the US$100 billion bilateral trade volume target set by Presidents Putin and Erdogan.
Russia became Türkiye’s largest trading partner in 2024, with a total trade volume reaching US$52.6 billion. The target is to hit US$100 billion by 2030. Bilateral trade has increased 130% over the past five years.
Turkiye’s presence at the 2025 BRICS summit is of note as the country is not a member nor a partner state of the group, although it has expressed interest in potentially joining the BRICS at some point. Following Fidan’s appearance at the 2025 summit we may find that this changes in the near future with a likely scenario being Turkiye joining as a non-voting ‘partner’ nation.
Further Reading
Russia, Turkiye To Increase and Diversify Bilateral Agricultural Trade
