Russia and Turkey expressed their desire at a meeting in Moscow to lift most mutual restrictions regarding agricultural product deliveries as soon as possible, the Russian government said in a statement Apr. 18, Sputnik International reported.
On Apr. 18, Moscow hosted talks between Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich and Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek.
“The participants noted that there is a common desire to remove the maximum number of restrictions that currently exist, as soon as possible, it was also stressed that there is the common understanding that some sensitive issues require step-by-step work,” the statement said.
Simsek described the talks as productive.
“We had a very productive meeting in Moscow, we discussed all the problems,” Simsek wrote in his Twitter blog, following talks with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich. “We'll meet again in May and quickly find a solution to all the issues.”
On March 15, Turkish authorities changed its import regulations of some agricultural products for processing within the country’s borders, including wheat and sunflower oil, removing Russia from the list of countries that have the right to duty-free supplies.
Meanwhile, Russia's food embargo on Turkey's food and agricultural products remains partly in place.
At the beginning of 2016, Russia imposed a number of restrictive measures, including a ban on food and flowers imports, on Turkey in response to the downing of a Russian military aircraft by a Turkish fighter jet in Syria on November 24, 2015.
In June 2016, following Turkey's apology to Russia for the November 2015 incident, the sides began a reconciliation process. In August 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia would gradually lift the economic restrictions imposed on Turkey.
On October 10, 2016, Putin announced the removal of embargo on Turkish fresh and dried oranges, tangerines, peaches, nectarines, plums and sloes.