Putin and Erdogan are going to speak in Sochi, Russia.

Russian President Vladimir V. Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, met in the southern Russian resort of Sochi on Friday for a second face-off. -face conversation in less than three weeks in a complex context of intertwined and competing interests.

Leaders' aides described the Sochi talks as a continuation of their discussions in Iran on July 19 – some of whom included Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader – covering issues such as drones, grain shipments, energy and Syria.

Mr. Erdogan has become an important mediator between Ukraine and Russia, which is looking for ways out of the economic and political isolation imposed by the West during its invasion of Ukraine. Turkey, a member of NATO and long frustrated with the EU. candidate, proved instrumental in securing an agreement between the two warring countries to urgently restart Ukrainian grain shipments via the Black Sea.

The deal is currently being tested, with a first ship leaving the Ukrainian port of Odessa on Monday bound for Lebanon and three more allowed to leave Ukrainian ports on Friday, with desperately needed cargoes of grain to help cope with a shortage growing world food.

Mr. Erdogan is on track to retain the ability to talk to both NATO enemy Russia and Western members of the alliance. Turkey has maintained its refusal to join Western sanctions against Russia, antagonizing its NATO allies, but Mr Erdogan has also, in a crucial move, lifted his initial objections to Sweden and Turkey joining. Finland to the alliance as a bulwark against Russian aggression.

Russia is a key energy supplier for Turkey, supplying a quarter of the country's crude imports and nearly half of its natural gas purchases last year. Rosatom, Russia's state nuclear company, is building a nuclear power plant in the Mediterranean that is expected to supply 10% of Turkey's energy needs after its scheduled completion in 2026.

For On the other hand, Turkey is becoming a major transshipment point for goods bound for Russia now that many Western freight companies are no longer handling shipments to Russia for fear of defying sanctions, reported Thursday. the Turkish newspaper Dunya. And the country remains a popular destination for Russian tourists, with 1.4 million visitors this year, according to Interfax.

However, stark differences remain between the two leaders . Their countries have backed opposing sides in the civil war in Turkey's neighbor Syria. The Kremlin has spent blood and treasure to support President Bashar al-Assad, while Turkey, which has absorbed more than 3.7 million Syrian war refugees, supports an opposing rebel faction and threatens a new military offensive in northern Syria. They were also involved on opposite sides in the border conflict that erupted violently between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Their relationship regarding weapons is also complex. In recent years, Turkey has challenged its NATO partners to buy Russian anti-aircraft missiles. And now Russia – starved by war-related Western sanctions for technologies such as guidance systems for missiles and drones – is urgently seeking equipment, a topic Friday's talks promise to address. p>

"Military-technical cooperation between the two countries is constantly on the agenda, and the very fact that our interaction is developing in this sensitive area shows that, in overall, all of our interrelationships are at a very high level,” Dmitry S. Peskov, Russian presidential press secretary, told reporters on Wednesday, according to the Interfax news agency.

Safak Timur contributed reporting.