Both Russia and Turkey seek to bring their ties to a new level, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said at a press-conference following the talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

“Both sides are decisively disposed to bring our ties to the pre-crisis and even higher level. We have a political will to do that,” he stressed, TASS reports.  

“My dear friend Vladimir Putin - both he and me - we showed similar stance on normalizing the ties between the two countries,” Erdoğan added.

On Tuesday, the Russian and Turkish presidents met in St Petersburg for the first time after the incident with the Russian jet fighter. The press-conference with both leaders is taking place at the moment.