The Turkish economy minister says the free trade area agreement between Russian Federation and Turkey may be formalized in 2017.
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According to him, St. Petersburg was proposed as an option for the talks and “the Turkish side agreed”.
Russian Federation only agreed to restore ties with Turkey after Erdogan sent his apologies last month to Putin over the death of the Su-24 pilot. It was planned initially to build the gas pipeline of four lines having the annual capacity of 63 bln cubic meters of natural gas.
“Turkey has no hostile feelings to Russian Federation, and will never have”, he said.
“Russia is not only our valuable neighbor, but also our important and strategic partner”, the Turkish news agency quoted Simsek as saying ahead of a meeting with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkadiy Dvorkovich.
The project was initially announced in December 2014 as an alternative to a broader South Stream pipeline network to feed European markets. The downing of a Russian military jet in Turkish airspace in November and Russian military intervention in Syria which frustrated the Turkish government are key instances that have caused political ties between them to sour.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan next month for the first time in nearly a year, a sign that a rapprochement between the two nations is gathering pace.
“Low oil prices, the global gas glut, and Western sanctions make gas revenues from Turkey important for Russia, Agnia Grigas, Energy and Political Risks expert [and] Non-resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council believes”.
Mr. Peskov also rubbished a report that Mr. Trump’s foreign policy adviser Carter Page had met Kremlin chief of staff Sergei Ivanov in Russian Federation this month to speak at the graduation ceremony of the New Economic School in Moscow.
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He noted that the issue of goods that could be subject to the agreement remains open.
