BERLIN, January 19. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday he believes that Russia and Turkey have made a good step by calling for ceasefire in Libya and thus creating preconditions for holding a conference in Berlin.

"In my view, together with you we have made a very good step during a meeting in Istanbul by calling on the Libyan parties to cease fire, stop fighting and although some incidents are taking place, both parties listened to our call and large-scale combat actions have been stopped," the Russian president said at a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "I believe this is a very good result, which created preconditions for today’s meeting in a multilateral format here in Berlin."

He also said he hopes dialogue on Libya will be continued and the conflict in that country will be ultimately resolved. "We don’t lose hope that the dialogue will be continued. And we will spare no effort to have this conflict resolved," Putin said at a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, commenting on the results of the Moscow talks between Libya’s conflicting parties.

The Russian leader noted that Russia and Turkey have been efficiently cooperating on the key matters of international politics, especially of the regional agenda. "I mean Syria. I mean everything that is linked with the Iranian nuclear program. I mean, of course, the settlement of the Libyan conflict," he said.

Putin stressed that Russia supports German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s position on the Libyan settlement. "Everyone is worried over this situation: both the Libyan parties and we, as the leaders of the countries that are located close to this region, of course, are worried about it, and the entire Europe is worried about it because flows of refugees from the Middle East and Africa are flooding Europe via the "Libyan gate’ wide open after Gaddafi’s murder," he noted, adding that Turkey and Russia "jointly worked towards positive outcomes of the Moscow meeting between the conflicting parties."

According to the Russian president, the very fact that they came to Moscow and had talks not only with us but also with each other deserves a commendation to the foreign and defense ministers who had done their utmost so that the conflicting parties could reach accord and support a joint statement. "Indeed, not everything went smoothly. One of the parties has not signed the statement, at least until now," he said, adding he still hopes for a constructive outcome of the talks.

Greeting his Turkish counterpart, Putin noted he is satisfied with the results of his visit to Istanbul on January 8. He tanked Erdogan for the warm atmosphere that was created during the launch of the Turk Stream project. In his words, it was a major event in Russia’s, Turkey’s and Europe’s energy sector. "Indeed, we have very good, constructive, trust-based relations in practically all spheres we have been working," Putin said. "Dialogue is not always smooth but we have learnt how to reach agreement, we have learnt to look for and find compromises acceptable for both sides. It is a good example of constructive cooperation between neighbors."