Ankara has agreed in principle with Russia on lifting visas for businessmen, truck drivers and service passport holders, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Wednesday.

Speaking at a dinner on the sidelines of the 10th Ambassadors Conference in the Turkish capital, Çavuşoğlu said he had discussions Tuesday with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on the lifting of visas for Turkish citizens and also exchanged views on Syria and Idlib.

"Of course our desire is the total lifting of visas," the minister said.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said Sunday in a statement that Moscow is "willing" to lift visas in some categories for Turkish citizens.

Following a decline in relations in November 2015, when Turkey shot down a Russian military jet over the Turkey-Syria border after it was not able to make contact with the aircraft, Russia imposed a range of unilateral sanctions on Turkey, including a ban on food imports and an end to visa-free travel.

Meanwhile, Çavuşoğlu said ongoing efforts on visa-free travel for Turkish citizens in EU countries would be intensified.

"We will meet with our teams, including [Turkey's] new deputy foreign ministers and the vice president of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, in the coming days," he added.