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Attending the meeting on the Russian side were Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, deputy prime ministers Alexander Novak and Alexei Overchuk, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office, Special Presidential Representative for Financial and Economic Cooperation with BRICS States and Interaction with the New Development Bank Maxim Oreshkin, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office – Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov, Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov, Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov, Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov, Minister of Energy Sergei Tsivilev, Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina, Director of the Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation Dmitry Shugayev, Head of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, Presidential Advisor Igor Levitin, Chairman of the Russian Association of Fertiliser Producers Andrei Guryev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriev, and Director General of the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom Alexei Likhachev.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr President, colleagues,

We are very pleased to welcome you to Kazan.

Before we get started, I would like to express my condolences over the recent terrorist attack. The media are reporting a terrorist attack in Turkiye. You are certainly aware of our stance on this: we condemn any acts of this kind, no matter what the motives may be.

Once again, I would like to welcome everyone to Kazan and to repeat how much I appreciate it that you have accepted the invitation to attend the BRICS Plus/Outreach meeting. I know that Turkiye is interested in establishing closer cooperation with the group, and we see great opportunities here, given your country’s international influence and unique geopolitical role to connect the eastern and western parts of Eurasia.

Russian-Turkish relations are of a good-neighbourly and constructive nature, rooted in a long-standing history of partnership across a wide range of areas. You and I maintain a regular dialogue on current issues on both bilateral and international agendas. I highly value these consistently beneficial interactions. I am confident that our conversation today will be both fruitful and useful.

Naturally, we will discuss ways to enhance trade and economic cooperation, which has been developing very steadily year by year. For instance, last year, the volume of trade was an impressive US$55.4 billion and from January to August this year, this figure rose by a further 6.2 percent.

We have accumulated a substantial volume of cross-investments: Russian companies are implementing major projects in such sectors of the Turkish economy as metallurgy and the automotive industry. Turkish business is prominently represented in machine-building, metallurgy, and woodworking, with the most of your investments and investment projects concentrated here, in Tatarstan, where we are today.

Strategically significant ties have been established in the energy sector. Russia is a reliable, time-tested supplier of natural gas to Türkiye. Last year, 20.5 billion cubic metres were exported through the Blue Stream and Turkish Stream pipelines.

Preparations are ongoing for the implementation of our initiative to create an international gas hub in Türkiye. I am confident that it will significantly enhance regional energy security, primarily through more balanced pricing mechanisms.

The flagship joint project is the construction of Akkuyu, Türkiye's first nuclear power plant. Work is being conducted simultaneously on all four power units around the clock. We anticipate that as early as next year, the plant will begin supplying electricity to the energy system of the Republic of Türkiye, as you have stated, Mr President, and as you have tasked the constructors.

Tourism has traditionally held a special place in our bilateral relations. In 2023, a record 6.3 million Russian tourists visited Turkiye, up 20.7 percent on the year before that. From January to August this year, over 4.5 million people visited Turkiye, an increase of 4.6 percent. Russia ranks first in Turkiye in this regard.

Close cooperation between our respective rescue services is particularly notable. At your request, we also took part is suppressing wildfires in the Republic and used our aviation in the process.

Of course, we will discuss international issues, including in light of tomorrow’s meeting of BRICS leaders and guest countries and organisations in the BRICS Plus/Outreach format.

Without a doubt, your participation in this event will convey the weighty role Turkiye plays in addressing pressing global issues. Tragic developments in the Middle East are the most pressing item on the international agenda. Russia’s and Turkiye’s principled positions on these matters are very close, and we both believe that a lasting political and diplomatic settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict can only be based on the universally recognised two-state solution approved by the UN Security Council.

As usual, we will discuss regional issues that are of special importance to our countries, including the Syrian peace process and normalisation of the situation in the South Caucasus. Of course, I am ready to inform you about the situation surrounding the Ukrainian crisis.

Mr President, we are delighted to see you. Welcome.

President of Turkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan (retranslated): Mr President, my dear friend,

Thank you for inviting me to the BRICS Summit in expanded format. It is a great pleasure for me to see you again after our meeting in Astana.

Thank you for the words of condolence. We have four dead – four martyrs – and 14 injured people. It was a treacherous act, a vile terrorist attack. May Allah grant peace to the souls of our martyrs.

Your Foreign Minister was in Istanbul last Friday as part of the 3+3 Regional Cooperation Platform. We hope to see you, Mr President, in our country soon.

Mr President, efforts to resolve issues in banking transactions between our countries are underway. In this regard, our respective treasuries and finance ministries as well as our central banks, continue to collaborate. Our ministers of trade are also working on it.

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