Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that he discussed the issue of further lifting of economic restrictions on Turkey with the country’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, RIA Novosti news agency 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 mixed intergovernmental commission for trade and economic cooperation.”
The relations between Moscow and Ankara deteriorated sharply in late 2015 when Turkey shot down a Russian Su-24 bomber with two pilots on board.
Following the 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.
In June 2016, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a letter of condolences to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over the death of a Su-24 pilot and expressed regret over the incident.