A Turkish official says the foreign ministers of Turkey and Russia met Thursday on the sidelines of a Europe security meeting, their first high-level bilateral talks since Turkey downed a Russian fighter jet late last month.
Advertisement
Lavrov said he “heard nothing new” from Cavusoglu.
Moscow has unleashed a raft of sanctions against Ankara, including banning imports of some Turkish foods, stopping the sale of package holidays to the country and reintroducing visas for Turkish visitors.
The Turkish leader has denied Russian President Vladimir Putin’s earlier claims of Turkey’s participation in petroleum commerce with all the IS, and has vowed to step down if its accusations are proven by Moscow.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry official was speaking on condition of anonymity because of government rules that bar officials from speaking to reporters without prior authorization. “These positions have been laid bare and we reiterated them today, including what was said in the presidential state-of-the-nation address”, Lavrov added.
On Wednesday, Russia’s top brass accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his family of personally profiting from the alleged trade.
“We never said oil smuggling from ISIL is not a problem”, he said, using an alternative acronym for IS.
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Thursday that talks with Turkey on building a pipeline that would allow Russia to export natural gas to the European Union through Turkey have been halted.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he offered his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, Turkey’s condolences over the death of a Russian pilot. “Every day it produces a variety of lies”, Davutoglu said.
Advertisement
Turkey insists the Russian Su-24 was warned 10 times in five minutes before it was shot down, but the Russian Defense Ministry has said the plane was shot down while in Syrian airspace. Another Russian serviceman was killed in the rescue operation.
