Russia agrees to lift remaining Turkey trade sanctions

Russia agreed on Monday to lift remaining trade sanctions against Turkey imposed in the wake of the shooting down by Turkish air forces of a Russian warplane over the Syrian border in 2015.

The state-run Anadolu news agency said a corresponding accord was signed on the sidelines of a summit of Black Sea regional leaders in Istanbul by Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek and his Russian counterpart Arkady Dvorkovich.

It said that the document was an important step towards the normalisation of economic relations and increasing trade volumes. The Russian government in a statement confirmed that the document "on the lifting of bilateral trade restrictions" was signed in the presence of Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and Russian premier Dmitry Medvedev.

There were no immediate details on the contents of the document but it is expected to again allow the import to Russia of tomatoes, a key Turkish agricultural export.

The November 24, 2015 shooting down of the Russian plane led to an unprecedented crisis in ties and prompted Russia to impose a raft of sanctions against Ankara.

These included an effective ban on Russian package holidays to Turkey, ruining the 2016 tourism season in the country's south. That ban has since been lifted. After a reconciliation deal in summer last year, relations have seen a rapid improvement with the two sides working together in a bid to end the Syria conflict.

(AFP)