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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met on Wednesday in Istanbul to discuss regional developments.
The mounting tension between the United States and Iran is expected to top the agenda of their meeting, after Iran fired missiles targeting U.S. military and coalition forces in Iraq earlier in the day.
Last week, a U.S. drone strike killed Major General Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, at the Baghdad airport in Iraq, further straining the already tense relations between the two countries.
The war in Libya, where Turkey is sending troops to in support of the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA), and the conflict in Syria, are also set to dominate the meeting as well.
Erdogan said on Sunday evening that Turkey "gradually" started to send troops to Libya under a deal inked with the GNA, a move which stirred opposition from some of its regional neighbors.
The Turkish leader assured that the mission of Turkish soldiers is to ensure a cease-fire in Libya, torn by civil war, and not to fight.
Another issue that strained ties between Turkey and Russia is the offensive of Russian-backed Syrian government forces on the country's last rebel-stronghold northwestern province of Idlib, which prompted a new flow of refugees toward the Turkish border.
Erdogan earlier said he hopes that Turkey and Russia can establish a cease-fire in Idlib.
After the meeting, Erdogan and Putin will proceed to the inauguration ceremony of the TurkStream natural gas pipeline project, which will deliver Russian gas to Turkey and Europe.
