Economics
Trash Discovery Shows Turkey Eyes Putin’s Anti-Sanctions Network
- Officials held urgent talks on Russian alternative to SWIFT
- Letter on discussions found discarded in Moscow landfill
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin.
Photographer: Kostas Tsironis/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Russia and Turkey held urgent talks in July on connecting Turkish companies and lenders to the Russian central bank’s alternative to the SWIFT financial messaging system.
The two sides met soon after Turkey risked the threat of U.S. sanctions by taking delivery of a Russian S-400 air-defense missile system, snubbing demands by the Trump administration to cancel the deal and sparking outrage in Congress. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian leader Vladimir Putin have fostered ties in recent years, including over the war in Syria, while Russia has adapted its financial system in response to international sanctions since it annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.