02:37Russia: Visa-free travel with Turkey to be suspended - FM Lavrov
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated on Friday that visa-free travel with Turkey will be suspended starting from January 1 during a joint press conference with his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem in Moscow.
"In this regard the Russian authorities have met a decision to suspend visa-free regime, which is currently functioning between Russia and Turkey. This decision will come into force from January 1," he stated.
Addressing the press, Lavrov spoke about the illegal oil industry of so-called Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS, ISIL). "When our aviation following the request of the President Assad started its operations in the Syrian airspace, we observed from air the full picture of this illegal oil business," he said. Moreover Russian FM accused the US-led coalition of not countering with oil illegal business "for some reasons" despite the fact that "the American coalition started to fly over Iraq and Syria without an agreement with the Syrian government more than a year earlier than our Air Force started."
The Russian official also noted that "this is hardly a coincidence that after this our Turkish neighbours began to behave very, very nervously."
02:37Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated on Friday that visa-free travel with Turkey will be suspended starting from January 1 during a joint press conference with his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem in Moscow.
"In this regard the Russian authorities have met a decision to suspend visa-free regime, which is currently functioning between Russia and Turkey. This decision will come into force from January 1," he stated.
Addressing the press, Lavrov spoke about the illegal oil industry of so-called Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS, ISIL). "When our aviation following the request of the President Assad started its operations in the Syrian airspace, we observed from air the full picture of this illegal oil business," he said. Moreover Russian FM accused the US-led coalition of not countering with oil illegal business "for some reasons" despite the fact that "the American coalition started to fly over Iraq and Syria without an agreement with the Syrian government more than a year earlier than our Air Force started."
The Russian official also noted that "this is hardly a coincidence that after this our Turkish neighbours began to behave very, very nervously."