"Russian President Vladimir Putin Vladimir Putin- Russian politician. Born on October 7, 1952 in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, he will not travel to Turkey because he fears for his life," said Valery Chaly, Ukraine's former ambassador to the United States, quoted by Kiev-based media UNIAN.

Everything on the topic:

Russian invasion of Ukraine 10637

According to the diplomat who represented his country in Washington from 2009 to 2015, the visit of the Kremlin owner announced by Turkish media on the occasion of the inauguration ceremony of the re-elected Turkish head of state Recep Tayyip Erdogan will not take place.

Putin and Zelensky to visit Turkey

"Russia will be represented by the fourth person in the state - the speaker of the State Duma (lower house of the legislature) Vyacheslav Volodin," Chaly added.

Let's recall, the structure of the Russian power hierarchy is as follows. The head of the country is the president, followed by Prime Minister - currently Mikhail Mishustin and the chairman of the Federation Council (the upper house of parliament in Moscow) - currently Valentina Matviyenko.

"I think the Russian president does not travel outside his homeland because he is afraid for his life. There is no threat of arrest in Turkey. This country has not signed an agreement with the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which issued an arrest warrant for Putin. Therefore, the authorities in Ankara have no commitment to detain and hand him over to magistrates in the capital of the Netherlands," the former ambassador said.

Arrest warrant issued for Vladimir Putin

The last time the Russian head of state was abroad, if I'm not mistaken, was on December 19. Then he visited Belarus. This country is controlled by the Kremlin.

"Russia controls Alexander Lukashenko, who de jure stands at the head of this country. De facto, Belarus is Russian territory and Putin has nothing to fear when traveling and staying there," the diplomat said.

Russian invasion of Ukraine

Vladimir Putin