Russia

Russia's partial withdrawal of forces from Syria is "a very positive step," Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on March 16, adding that he hoped it would compel Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to make concessions.

The total volume of Serbia's trade in Russia increased last year, but its value decreased, Russian Ambassador Aleksandr Chepurin has said.

The biggest problems, according to him, are the falling prices of oil and gas and the instability of the Russian currency.

Russia's federal tourism agency Rostourism restored 13 out of 19 licenses of Turkish-owned tour operators that were revoked as part of Moscow's sanctions against Turkey last December, as reported by Russian media on March 16. 

Turkey has reiterated that it does not recognize the result of a 2014 referendum in Crimea in which voters elected to join Russia, the Foreign Ministry has said in a statement on the second anniversary of the event.

OPEC members and key oil producers from outside the cartel will meet on April 17 in Doha in a bid to stabilize falling crude prices, Qatari energy minister Mohammed al-Sada said on March 16.

Lockheed Martin Chief Executive Marillyn Hewson said Poland and Turkey were interested in the company's MEADS missile defense system, which has already been selected by Germany.

The number of businesses launched by Syrian refugees has reached over 600 in the southeastern province of Gaziantep with a rapid rise over the last year, according to figures from the city's chamber of trade, as reported by Anadolu Agency. 

Scheduled flights between Russia and Turkey by the two countries' flag carriers have dropped almost 50 percent along with the number of passengers after the downing of Russian jet by Turkey on Nov. 24, 2015, a tourism official has said. 

The head of Russia's top bank Sberbank, German Gref, said on March 15 he was satisfied with his bank's business in Turkey and that he saw good opportunities to grow there.

Sberbank operates in Turkey under its Denizbank unit. 

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry have discussed recent developments surrounding the Syrian conflict, as the latter will visit Russia next week to discuss the Syria crisis.