Russian media cover Moscow talks with Turkey

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russian media widely covered the eighth meeting of the Russian-Turkish High-Level Cooperation Council, chaired by the presidents of the two countries on Monday.

On Monday, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the "whole range" of bilateral ties during several closed-door talks with participation from both Turkish and Russian business figures.

Conferences between business representatives and Erdogan and Putin were the main events during the meeting, local media said.

Russian Daily Kommersant described as "substantial" the meeting, which opened with Putin greeting Erdogan in the Turkish language.

The event extended longer than schedule due to high interest on the part of business on both sides, the daily said, with talks lasting roughly 90 minutes instead of the planned 40.

It added that Erdogan gave time for all Turkish business representatives to speak, with 20 delivering a speech as opposed to the originally planned four.

They voiced complaints of difficult business conditions in Russia, visa restrictions, and gas price discounts, said Kommersant.

Despite these issues, representatives expressed interest in expanding activities in Russia, particularly in investing in the development of Russian domestic tourism.

Business newspaper Vedomosti concentrated on the proposals of Russian business.

Andrey Guryev, director general of Russian chemical firm PhosAgro, asked Erdogan for the lifting of entrance duties, it said.

"According to Guryev, the cancellation of duties would allow Russian producers to increase fertilizer supplies to Turkey by 2-3 times and increase trade between the countries by $1 billion," the newspaper said.

Addressing with the same issue, the head of the Metalloinvest mining and metallurgy company proposed efforts for a preferential trade agreement between Russia and Turkey.

Turkish side received the proposal for further analysis, the daily said.