Turkey remains a friend of Russia, stated Russian President Vladimir Putin, reported the Gazeta news site of Russia.

“Turkey is one of the primary partners of ours and our good friends,” Putin stressed. “Turkey is [also] one of our biggest trade and economic partners.”

He added that Russia is one of Turkey’s key partners in the energy sector.

“We need to understand how we can normalize our relations in the fight against terrorism,” the Russian president noted. “Turkey has many concerns here linked to the Kurdish factor. We understand all these concerns, [and] are ready to consider [them] during our joint work. At present, there are [Russia-Turkey] contacts at the level of military agencies.”