MOSCOW, April 8. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has hailed large-scale international, military and technical cooperation between Moscow and Ankara.

Opening talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Putin stressed: "We have large-scale cooperation in the sphere of international relations." "Contacts in the framework of the Foreign Ministry, the Defense Ministry and military and technical cooperation have been actively developing."

Speaking on bilateral economic cooperation, Putin noted that trade turnover has grown 15% to $25bln. The two countries have been implementing a number of major projects, including the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant and the TurkStream gas pipeline, the land and sea sections of which have been recently connected, he said.

Putin expects to discuss at the talks in Moscow with this Turkish counterpart on Monday "a huge package of issues."

At the meeting Russia is represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Kremlin Aide Yuri Ushakov, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin. The Turkish delegation consists of Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Donmez, Minister of Finance and Treasury Berat Albayrak, National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan.