Putin: Russia, Turkey want to restore bilateral relations
ST. PETERSBURG. KAZINFORM - Russian and Turkish presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan began talks in the Constantine Palace in Strelna on the outskirts of St. Petersburg on Tuesday with shaking their hands, TASS reports.
The two heads of state meet for the first time after the 8-month freeze in bilateral relations following the downing of a Russian Su-24 bomber by the Turkish Air Force in November 2015.
The leaders greeted each other and made brief statements on the issues of the talks.
Russia and Turkey hope to restore relations between the two countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
The Russian leader noted that the bilateral Russian-Turkish relations had reached a very high level in previous years. "However, after the well-known tragedy that claimed the life of our military service member last November, they have degraded reaching a low-point."
"Your current visit, despite the very difficult political situation in Turkey, shows that we all want to resume our dialogue and restore relations for the sake of the interests of the Turkish and Russian peoples," Putin told Erdogan.
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