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Russian, Turkish officials meet in Moscow to set stage for Putin-Erdogan meeting in August

Xinhua, July 26, 2016 Adjust font size:

Senior Russian and Turkish government officials met on Tuesday in Moscow to discuss bilateral ties as the leaders of both countries are scheduled to meet in August.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich met on Tuesday with his Turkish counterpart Mehmet Simsek to discuss a number of projects hit by restrictions imposed by Moscow on Ankara after the downing of a Russian fighter jet by Turkey.

Local media reported that the two sides discussed resuming the building of a stream pipeline for Russian natural gas to be sent to Turkey and construction of Turkey's first nuclear power plant.

They also discussed issues related to resuming charter flights between the two countries, the lifting of visa restrictions and the ban on imports of Turkish agricultural products.

After consultations between the Turkish delegation and various Russian ministries, Dvorkovich said, "A solid basis for the planned meeting of the heads of states will be prepared."

Russian Minister of Economic Development Alexei Ulyukayev and Turkey's Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci also met on Tuesday to discuss measures to help Turkish companies return to the Russian market, and resume trade and investment cooperation programs.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in St. Petersburg on Aug. 9.

"This will be the first meeting for quite a long time, the first after the two leaders have managed to turn the page, so there will be no shortage of topics for discussion," Peskov was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti news agency.

Contact between the Russian and Turkish governments have already resumed with the aim to mend bilateral trade and economic relations, soured by Turkey's dawning of a Russian Su-24 bomber in November near the Syrian-Turkish border.

Russia agreed to restore ties with Turkey after Erdogan sent his apologies last month to Putin over the death of the Su-24 pilot. Endi