Russia and Turkey have agreed to lift nearly all remaining trade restrictions imposed in the aftermath of Ankara's downing of a Russian warplane in 2015, President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday.

"You asked when we can speak about the lifting of the restrictions that emerged some time ago. We can speak of that today," Putin said at a news conference alongside his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"We agreed on a comprehensive solution to all these problems linked to the restrictions."

Relations between Moscow and Ankara hit rock bottom after Turkey's shooting down of a Russian warplane over the Syrian border in November 2015, which Putin at the time labelled a "stab in the back".

In the wake of the incident, Moscow slapped a range of sanctions on Ankara, including an embargo on some Turkish food products, as well as a ban on charter flights and sales of package tours to the country and the reintroduction of visas for Turkish visitors.

But Putin said Wednesday that Russia's embargo on the import of tomatoes from Turkey and its visa restrictions on Turkish nationals will remain in place for the time being.

He did not provide a timeline for the lifting of these two restrictions.

"Now we can say with certainty that the recovery period in Russo-Turkish relations is over," the Kremlin strongman said. "We are returning to a normal cooperation partnership."

Putin last year ordered that the government normalise trade ties with Turkey as he lifted the ban on the sale of packages tours in Turkey.

Trade between potential energy partners Russia, Turkey declines
Washington (UPI) May 3, 2017 - Documents highlighted by Russian state media show bilateral trade between Russia and Turkey, two potential energy partners, declined more than 30 percent.

Turkey President Tayyip Erdogan has scheduled a state visit to Russia this week. Ahead of the meeting, Russian news agency Tass highlighted documents that show trade between the two countries is on the decline.

"The Russian-Turkish trade fell by 32 percent to $15.8 billion last year," the documents show.

Russian energy company Gazprom is looking at Turkey as an alternative to Ukraine, through which most of the Russian gas pipelines run. Geopolitical issues associated with Ukraine make legacy routes risky and Turkey's geographic position makes it attractive as a bridge to transport energy resources from Central Asian suppliers to the European market

A Russian-backed project dubbed Turkish Stream would mirror the route for the now-abandoned South Stream project and run under the Black Sea to Turkey and then to the European market. South Stream was scrapped because of concerns about Russian business practices expressed by some European countries.

Gazprom in December approved a three-and-a-half-year loan to aid the construction of the planned Turkish Stream pipeline. Funds target construction, purchase contracts and general administrative expenses.

After the coup last year, Erdogan received a letter of condolence from Russian President Putin and both sides in signed a series of trade and economic agreements aimed at broadening the bilateral level of cooperation.

Turkish ties to Europe turned south after Erdogan won the plurality in a national referendum that strengthened his grip on power, a referendum the president said was a response to last year's coup attempt.

Tweet

More oil coming from Norway, possibly sooner than expected
Washington (UPI) May 2, 2017
The start of production of a field containing mostly oil in the Norwegian Sea could come earlier than expected, German energy company Wintershall said. Wintershall said its flagship Maria field offshore Norway is progressing steadily toward development by utilizing existing infrastructure to conserve capital. Drilling of the six wells slated initially for a field representing about $1.8 ... read more

Related Links
All About Oil and Gas News at OilGasDaily.com

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only