Russia on Friday partially rescinded a ban on Turkish agricultural products while Turkish President Recep Erdogan was on an official visit to meet his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
Russia will now accept imports of Turkish onions, cauliflower and broccoli, the government said in a statement.
A ban on one of Turkey’s most important agricultural products, tomatoes, remained in force.
Russia imposed the ban at the beginning of 2016 after a Turkish fighter jet shot down a Russian warplane on the Turkish-Syrian border.
Russia and Turkey, which support opposing sides in the Syrian civil war, have been trying in recent months to rebuild their previously robust economic relations.
The Kremlin in a statement said the Syrian conflict and improvement in business ties are expected to feature prominently in Putin and Erdogan’s talks on Friday.
“The leaders will discuss the entire scope of Russian-Turkish relations with a focus on the further restoration of mutually beneficial trade and economic ties,” particularly collaboration on the Turkish Stream gas pipeline and the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, the Kremlin said.
Putin met Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday to discuss the crisis in neighbouring Syria and efforts to fight international terrorism, particularly the UN-designated terrorist group Islamic State, which had gained significant territory in war-torn Syria in recent years.
Russia, Turkey and Iran have been acting as military guarantors of a fragile, nationwide ceasefire in Syria that does not include UN-designated terrorist groups.
The neutral, Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan will host representatives of those guarantors on March 14 and March 15 for Syria peace talks in its capital, Astana.(dpa/NAN)
