Azernews.Az

By Gunay Hasanova

Following today’s meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that he discussed the issue of further lifting of economic restrictions with his Turkish counterpart, RIA Novosti reported.

“We stressed the importance to continue our efforts to overcome the negative trends in the trade and economic sphere, where our trade turnover is still decreasing,” Lavrov said.

“We put emphasis on the energy sphere, just like Russian and Turkish presidents had agreed earlier. We believe that the interaction regarding all these issues will be extending within the joint intergovernmental commission for trade and economic cooperation”, he added.

Following the incident Su-24 bomber incident, Russia's President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on taking measures for ensuring the country's national security and special economic measures against Turkey.

Russia banned imports of bell pepper, pomegranates, aubergines, lettuce, Iceberg lettuce, marrows and pumpkins from Turkey due to phytosanitary considerations in spring 2016 after the worsening of Ankara-Moscow ties in late 2015.

Prior to that, Russia restricted imports of oranges, tangerines, grapes, apples, pears, apricots, peaches and nectarines, plums, wild strawberries, strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, cauliflower, broccoli, yellow onions, as well as frozen turkey and chicken from Turkey.

In October after the talks between the two countries’ presidents, the Russian government decided to allow on its market a number of Turkish agricultural products, including citrus. The embargo was lifted in respect of fresh and dried oranges and tangerines, fresh apricots, peaches and nectarines, plums and thorns.

Meanwhile, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Meshkov said that Russia is ready to introduce visa-free regime with Turkey based on service passports.

Two sides believe that if visa-free travel is resumed, it will have a positive impact on bilateral relations since the official contacts between our countries have been stepped up, and trade, tourism, and investment cooperation has been growing.

Relations between Turkey and Russia broke down for about seven months after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane in November 2015. However, relations have improved since the August meeting of the two presidents.

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Gunay Hasanova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @gunhasanova

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