Russia Ready to Consider Turkey's Proposals on Normalizing Relations

Russia does not intend to come up with its own initiative on how to resolve the crisis in relations with Turkey, but is ready to consider Ankara’s proposals on the issue, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow was willing to resume relations with Ankara. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu proposed Monday to form a joint working group with Russia in a bid to normalize the Ankara-Moscow relations.

"We never said we would offer an ‘olive branch’ or any other kind of branch to Turkey. We said Turkey had to apologize and compensate the losses inflicted as a result of a military crime… and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin said we had to consider [Turkey’s proposals], but Turkey has to do what it has to do," Lavrov said on the kp.ru website’s live feed.

Russian-Turkish relations deteriorated after the downing of a Russian Su-24 bomber by a Turkish fighter jet in Syria on November 24, 2015. Moscow imposed a number of restrictive measures on Turkey in response to what Russian President Vladimir Putin classified as a "stab in the back."

Russia's retaliatory measures against Ankara include, in particular, restrictions on the activities of Turkish organizations in Russia, an embargo on Russian employers hiring Turkish citizens and a ban on certain food imports since January 1, 2016.