Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of a summit in Kazakhstan on October 13.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the two leaders will focus on the ongoing Russia-launched war in Ukraine and Russian-Turkish bilateral ties.
Earlier in the day, news agencies AFP and dpa both cited Turkish officials as saying that the two presidents will meet in Astana during the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) that starts on October 12.
Erdogan and Putin last met in mid-September in Uzbekistan on the sidelines of a summit of the leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
NATO member Turkey has positioned itself as a mediator between Ukraine and Russia since Moscow launched an invasion of its neighbor on February 24. While Ankara has criticized Moscow, it has stopped short of joining crippling Western economic and financial sanctions.
Erdogan has publicly expressed hope he can bring Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy together for talks to stop the war.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a televised interview that both sides have moved away from diplomacy since talks in March in Istanbul between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators.
"As the Ukraine-Russian war drags on, unfortunately, the situation gets worse and more complicated," said Cavusoglu, who called for an immediate cease-fire. "A cease-fire must be established as soon as possible. The sooner the better."
Following major setbacks on the battlefield last month as Ukrainian forces launched successful counteroffensives to liberate territories occupied by Russian troops, Putin said during a speech announcing that four Ukrainian regions were now part of Russia that Moscow "is ready" for talks with Ukraine. The referendums ahead of the illegal annexation were denounced as a sham by the West.
Zelenskiy rejected the talks, saying Ukraine will speak to the "next" Russian president, implying that talks can proceed only after Putin is removed from his post.
