WASHINGTON, United States - The US State Department on Tuesday urged Turkey not to allow “illicit Russian assets or transactions” on its soil days after the Turkish state said it adopted Russia's payment system.
In an email sent to Rudaw, a spokesperson for the department said the US has “urged Turkey to not become a safe haven for illicit Russian assets or transactions” after five Turkish banks adopted Russia’s Mir payment system.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Sochi on Friday. The four-hour meeting concluded with a pledge to strengthen trade and energy exchange between the two countries despite war sanctions on Moscow.
Russia in late February launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The conflict led to the announcement of immediate and severe sanctions by the US and Western countries against Russia, mainly targeting its financial sector in an attempt to limit its capacity to fund the war. Additionally, key Russian banks were also excluded from the SWIFT transactional banking communication network, making transferring money a difficult task for Russians in most global banks.
On his way back to Turkey following his meeting with Putin, Erdogan said five Turkish banks have adopted Russia’s payment system known as Mir, making things easier for Russian tourists in Turkey which still has its airspace open for Moscow.
Allowing the use of Mir payment cards in Turkey has raised concerns in the western capitals that it may help Russia evade sanctions imposed by the West, which US officials have warned against.
Iran late July also said it will start accepting Mir cards “soon.”
Washington also banned importing Russian oil and gas with western allies vowing to phase out their dependency on Moscow’s energy sector.
“We continue to urge allies to take steps to diversify energy sources to reduce energy reliance on Russia. We are working with Turkey to assist its efforts to enhance its energy security for the long-term,” the State Department official added in the email exchange.
