Reaching Pre-Crisis Russia-Turkey Trade Turnover Hard Despite Good Prospects

Russia and Turkey have good prospects for cooperation in trade and industry, but reaching the trade turnover that existed before the crisis in bilateral relations after the November 2015 downing of a Russian aircraft by Turkey will be difficult, Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who arrived in St. Petersburg for first talks to reset bilateral relations which turned cold after Turkey shot down a Russian Su-24 jet over Syria in November 2015.

"Recent developments in Russian-Turkish relations create good prospects for the full-scale resumption of bilateral relations in trade and industrial areas… but reaching previous levels will be difficult," Manturov told RIA Novosti.

The two leaders agreed to develop bilateral ties, returning to the pre-crisis level of cooperation in trade, energy and defense and other spheres.

The tensions between the two counties have begun to thaw since the Turkish president apologized in a letter to the Russian president for the incident and offered his condolences to the family of the killed Russian pilot in June.