Moscow-Ankara Political Dialogue Reached Unprecedented Level In 2018 - Russian Ambassador

ANKARA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th February, 2019) The political dialogue between Russia and Turkey achieved a never-before-seen level of activity last year, Russian Ambassador to Turkey Alexei Erkhov said on Sunday on the occasion of Russia's Diplomat Day, celebrated on February 10.

"Last year was not easy, and at the same time interesting, rich and extremely fruitful for the Russian-Turkish relations. It was a year of unprecedented development of our bilateral political dialogue. During that year, our presidents held seven separate personal meetings, not counting contacts in a different format, and 18 telephone conversations. It seems that this was a record," Erkhov told reporters.

Trade between Russia and Turkey in 2018 has exceeded the pre-crisis level and reached $25.4 billion in 2018 despite sanctions, according to the diplomat.

Moreover, up to 1 million Turkish citizens will be covered by visa waivers, introduced by Russia earlier in the week, the ambassador noted.

On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on granting visa waivers to holders of Turkey's special passports traveling to Russia on short working trips, such as diplomats and consular staff, as well as to freight drivers on international routes. The exemptions will only be granted on condition of reciprocity from Turkey, according to the decree.