Russian and Turkish presidents, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan © Mikhail Metzel/TASS
The Russian-Turkish talks which took place on March 10 resulted almost in nothing according to available information.
Economic cooperation, defense industry and energy are among main elements of the talks.
Both sides made statements, claiming the improvement of the relations between Moscow and Ankara but no significant announcements were made.
Turkish Ppresident Recep Tayyip Erdogan even admited that the Turkish Stream gas pipeline and Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant were still under the question.
“As far as implementation of the Turkish Stream and Akkuyu NPP projects are concerned, cooperation returns to its previous path and is increasingly developing,” Erdogan said.
The main Turkish economic achievement was that the Russian Government authorized import of oranges, tangerines, peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots and blackthorns from Turkey. But Russian agriculture watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor announced that it does not plan to lift phytosanitary restrictions on agricultural products from Turkey in the near future.
As to the defense cooperation, Putin and Erdogan praised the cooperation over the Syrian conflict. However, the recent Turkish offensive actions against the Syrian army and Kurdish forces west of the northern Syrian town of Manbij were likely the main reason of no significant progress in the talks.
More about the Turkish agenda in the Russian-Turkish talks could be found here.
