BEIRUT, Lebanon — Just weeks ago, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey dropped his objections to allowing Finland and Sweden to join NATO — a move that angered President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
Now he is off to Iran for talks with none other than Mr. Putin himself, with President Ebrahim Raisi also in attendance.
The trip highlights Mr. Erdogan’s complicated and often apparently contradictory statecraft. As a member of NATO, Turkey is supposedly allied with pro-Europe Ukraine. And a leading Turkish drone manufacturer is proudly selling drones that Ukrainian forces have used to blow up Russian tanks.
But still, Mr. Erdogan has gotten closer to Mr. Putin in recent years and has kept lines…
