MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russia will halt all contacts with Turkey on trips to training camps, Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said Sunday.
"We shall, of course, limit and cut off all connections with Turkey on trips to training camps, but in those competitions where the organizer is not Turkey but international federations, and such a project is organized in Turkey, we certainly cannot miss them if the international federations guarantee us of the highest level of security. If there are no guarantees then we would limit ourselves from visiting," Mutko told R-Sport.
At the same time, Turkish companies taking part in subcontracting for construction of stadiums for the football World Cup in Russia in 2018 will be able to continue their work as they have corresponding labor agreements, Mutko said.
"All [construction projects] have Russian contractors. In some projects Turkish companies could be in subcontracting. And if they have contracts they will continue working," Mutko told R-Sport.
The World Cup will take place on June 14-July 15 2018 in 11 Russian cities.
On November 24, a Russian Su-24 jet crashed in Syria during an anti-terrorist operation. Moscow said the aircraft was downed by an air-to-air missile, fired from a Turkish F-16 fighter in response to an alleged violation of Turkish airspace, an accusation denied both by the Russian General Staff and the Syrian Air Defense Command.
The downing of the Russian Su-24 fighter jet over Syria by Turkey has dealt great damage to bilateral relations between Moscow and Ankara, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Saturday.
Later that day, Moscow rolled out a series of economic measures against Turkey.