Russia, Turkey agree to restore ties after diplomatic rift

Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to work toward restoring full relations with Turkey, but said rebuilding trade ties will be time consuming. 

He said yesterday after meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Saint Petersburg. Both the leaders patched their relations and pledged to restore close economic relations. President Putin said Russian trade sanctions on Turkey would be phased out step by step. 

The visiting leader said the two countries will restore their yearly



bilateral trade target of 100 billion dollars and will speed up the resumption of charter flights from Russia to Turkey. 

The Turkish leader also said he is ready to build a natural gas pipeline with Russia and negotiate a deal to construct Turkey's first nuclear power plant. The two agreed to meet later to seek common ground over how to resolve the crisis in Syria. 

It was Erdogan's first visit to Putin's hometown of Saint Petersburg after the failed coup in Turkey last month.