Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had many reasons for meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. First, Russia has not yet fully lifted the trade restrictions imposed on Ankara after the Turkish fighter shot down a Russian bomber in the sky of Syria in November 2015. Shortly before his trip to Sochi Erdogan announced his intention to ask the Russian leader to speed up the process of lifting trade sanctions. The Turkish pipeline, the Akkuyu nuclear power plant, as well as the possible abolition of restrictions on the supply of a number of Russian goods (grain, maize, legumes, sunflower oil and sunflower oil) to Turkey, should be an important reason for returning to the previous trading regime..
The second important topic is the settlement of the Syrian crisis. Russia and Turkey are significant players in this field and sponsors of the peaceful settlement of the conflict. At the same time, Turkey has always had its own interests in the conflict region, connected with longstanding confrontation with ethnic Kurds. In addition, for some time now Recep Tayyip Erdogan can not tolerate Syrian President Bashar Assad. Turkey's willingness to participate in any anti-Asadov alliances is not a secret for the Russian side. In short, in the approaches of the Russian and Turkish leaders to the struggle for peace in Syria, there are many differences.
On the eve of the meeting in Sochi, the press leaked information that, in addition to the above issues, Putin and Erdogan will discuss deliveries of Russian S-400 missile systems to Turkey. On the readiness of Turkey to purchase weapons in the event that Russia provides the appropriate loan earlier reported the head of "Rosteha" Sergei Chemezov. According to Russian presidential aide Vladimir Kozhin, Russia does not see any obstacles to the possible supply of S-400 air defense missile systems to Turkey in connection with its membership in NATO.
The final joint press conference of the presidents of Russia and Turkey did not clarify the issue of deliveries of the S-400. However, on other topics of discussion, the leaders expressed themselves quite definitely. According to Recep Erdogan, Russia and Turkey have already gone beyond the process of normalizing relations, on virtually all issues of trade and economic cooperation, the barriers have been lifted. As an illustration of this optimistic passage, Erdogan cited the return of Russian tourists to Turkish resorts.
The enthusiasm of the Turkish leader slightly spoiled the Russian president's explanation of the fate of Turkish workers and Turkish tomatoes. According to Vladimir Putin, these restrictions will be mitigated gradually.
Our agricultural producers are afraid of competition with Turkish tomatoes, which took loans for the construction of greenhouses for the production of tomatoes. In order for them to settle accounts with banks, a long cycle is needed, the head of state explained.. At the same time, he assured that Russia does not intend to close its market forever for Turkish tomatoes.
Regarding visa restrictions for Turkish citizens and prohibiting them from doing business in Russia, liberalization in this area is greatly complicated by the presence of a terrorist threat. According to Vladimir Putin, special services of Russia and Turkey need to establish closer cooperation, until this happens - visa restrictions will remain. However, some easing will be given to specialists and businessmen. The Presidents of the two countries agreed that at the Foreign Ministry level lists of Turkish citizens will be coordinated, which will be granted a more preferential visa regime. That is, with visas it turned out, as with tomatoes, once canceled, but it is unknown when.
The Syrian issue at the press conference of Erdogan and Putin was submitted as a real product of diplomacy - the leaders expressed support for the creation of security zones or zones of de-escalation, as the Turkish president called them.
Also, Vladimir Putin reported that the topic of creating such zones was discussed by him yesterday during a telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump, who also supported this idea. In addition, Moscow has already held consultations on this issue with Damascus and Tehran. According to the leaders of Turkey and Russia, the establishment of such zones will contribute to strengthening the ceasefire. At the same time, Vladimir Putin stressed that the war with terrorists in Syria will continue, while there are organizations listed by the United Nations on the list of terrorist.