Russia and Turkey have agreed to resume cooperation on travel and trade after the presidents of the two counties held their first telephone conversation since Ankara downed a Russian plane last year.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a 40-minute telephone call Wednesday with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Moscow would start talks with Turkey on resuming trade and economic relations and would lift restrictive measures on Russian tourists visiting Turkey, both sides confirmed in statements.
Putin and Erdogan also agreed to hold a face-to-face meeting in September on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in China.
The conversation was initiated by Putin in a response to the Turkish president's letter this week, in which Erdogan expressed regret for the downing of a Russian jet last year.
In a reference to the letter, Putin said that it had created conditions to close "the crisis chapter" in bilateral relations.
Putin also condemned the "heinous" attack at Istanbul's Ataturk airport Tuesday that killed at least 41 people and offered condolences to the Turkish people.
Following the downing of the Russian plane in November relations between the two countries froze and Moscow imposed a number of sanctions, including an embargo on Turkish food products and a ban on charter flights and the sale of package tours to the country.
Some material for this report came from AP, AFP and Reuters.
