The leaders of Russia and Turkey have patched things up after a bitter feud over Ankara's downing of a Russian warplane in November, pledging to restore their close economic relations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russian trade sanctions on Turkey would be phased out "step by step."
"The priority is to get back to the pre-crisis level of co-operation," he told Turkish President Recept Tayyip Erdogan in St. Petersburg.
The shooting down of a Russian fighter jet by a Turkish F-16 over the Syrian border last November made Putin slap economic sanctions on Turkey and launched a blistering war of words with Erdogan that seemed to damage ties permanently.
But in late June, Putin accepted a personal expression of regret over the incident from Erdogan and immediately rolled back a ban on the sale of package holidays to Turkey and signaled that Moscow would end measures against Turkish food imports and construction firms.
In the wake of the failed July 15 coup attempt, Putin was one of the first foreign leaders to phone Erdogan offering support and shared none of the hesitations of EU leaders about the following crackdown.
It is Mr. Erdogan's first foreign visit since an attempted coup.
Source: BBC
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