Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan are holding a meeting in the Russian city of St. Petersburg on Tuesday.





ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik)�� The two presidents, who began the talks with�a handshake, are meeting for�the first time since�Turkey's downing of�a Russian warplane in�November 2015.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said his Turkish counterpart's visit following�the November 2015 downing of�a Russian aircraft by�Turkey speaks to�efforts to�renew dialogue.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in�the Russian city of�St. Petersburg for�the first talks to�reset bilateral relations earlier in�the day.
�Your visit today, despite�the very difficult political situation in�Turkey, says that we all want to�resume our dialogue, rapprochement in�the interests of�the peoples of�Turkey and Russia,� Putin said at�the start of�talks.


Ankara and Moscow ended seven months of�strained relations in�late June when Erdogan wrote a letter to�Putin in�which he apologized for�the incident in�November.


Putin said despite "very low, degraded" relations between�the countries after�the Su-24 downing, ties between�Russia and Turkey have reached "unprecedented levels" in�recent years.


Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would discuss the full range of�bilateral issues with�his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan during�their Tuesday meeting.
"We will have the opportunity today to�discuss�the full range of�our relations, including the restoration of�economic ties, anti-terrorism cooperation," Putin said.


By Sputnik News