Russian, Turkish leaders shake hands, begin talks

ST.PETERSBURG, August 9. /TASS/. Russian and Turkish presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan began talks in the Constantine Palace in Strelna on the outskirts of St. Petersburg on Tuesday with shaking their hands. The two heads of state meet for the first time after the 8-month freeze in bilateral relations following the downing of a Russian Su-24 bomber by the Turkish Air Force in November 2015. The leaders greeted each other and made brief statements on the issues of the talks. The talks are attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, and Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Deputy Secretary General of the Turkish presidency in charge of foreign policy Ibrahim Kalin. Read more