A target annual trade volume of $100 billion between Turkey and Russia became more achievable following a summit between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Tuesday. More concrete steps are expected to increase the use of the Turkish (TL) lira and ruble in bilateral trade between the two countries, relying less on trade based on the dollar.

Although the more frequent use of thr TL and ruble in trade between Turkey and Russia was discussed several times last year, the high-level meeting on Tuesday is expected to pave the way for more concrete results.

The use of the TL in foreign trade has been on the rise. According to data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) on Friday, the lira's use in Turkish exports saw a rise of 22 percent in the first half of the year when compared to the same period last year. Thus $3.7 billion of exports sales worth $71.7 billion realized in the first half of the year were carried out in lira.