Putin, Erdogan Agree to Hold Meeting at BRICS Summit - Source

ANKARA (Sputnik) - Russian President Vladimir Putin held a telephone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the sides agreed to hold a meeting on the sidelines of BRICS summit in Johannesburg on July 25-27, a source from Turkish presidential administration told Sputnik on Saturday.

"The presidents of Russia and Turkey held a telephone conversation today and agreed to hold a meeting at the BRICS summit in Johannesburg in the end of this month," the source said.

According to the source, the two leaders also discussed the situation in Syria and some joint projects, including the TurkStream gas pipeline and the construction of Turkey's Akkuyu nuclear power plant (NPP).

"Erdogan said that he was very concerned about attacks on civilians in [Syrian] Daraa. If the Syrian regime continues to take the same actions in Idlib, Astana arrangements will lose point," the source added.

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In this regard, according to the source, it is very important to involve the Syrian opposition in the next round of talks in Astana on July 30-31.