President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke over the phone with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday to discuss bilateral ties and potential areas of cooperation.

According to a statement from the Turkish presidency, the two leaders discussed steps to improve economic cooperation as well as solidarity in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak. Regional developments, especially in Syria and Libya, were highlighted during their discussion, while the two leaders agreed on strengthening bilateral ties to benefit regional peace, security and stability.

Ankara’s policy toward Moscow is based on further strengthening mutual trust, developing cooperation and maintaining transparent and sincere dialogue.

Today, the relationship between the two countries is one of the major axes of Turkey’s multidimensional foreign policy.

Although Turkey and Russia have different views on regional and international issues, relations have continued due to dialogue between the countries' presidents.

While economic and commercial aspects remain the driving force of the relations, developments in energy, the defense industry and tourism have recently come to the fore.