Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday looked to rebuild ties as they met for the first time since Ankara downed one of Moscow’s warplanes in November.
Erdogan’s visit to Putin’s hometown of Saint Petersburg is also his first foreign trip since the failed coup against him last month that sparked a purge of opponents and cast a shadow over Turkey’s relations with the West. “Your visit today, despite a difficult situation regarding politics, indicates that we all want to restart dialogue and restore relations between Russia and Turkey,” Putin said.
Erdogan, who has said the trip represents a “new milestone”, told Putin that ties had entered a “very different phase” and thanked the Kremlin leader for his backing after the coup attempt.