Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a press conference at Oulu City Hall after bilateral talks with Finland.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday Moscow was ready for close cooperation with Turkey on “fighting terrorism”, in comments after a deadly blast that killed at least 99 people in Ankara last weekend.

“We are ready for very close cooperation and very close engagement with the Turkish authorities in the fight against the terrorist threat,” Lavrov told a conference on Russian-Turkish partnership in Moscow.

Turkey suggested to Russia on Tuesday that the two sides should consider creating a joint working group to coordinate actions related to Russia’s air strikes in Syria after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Moscow against losing Ankara’s friendship.

“If Russia loses a friend like Turkey with whom it has a lot of cooperation it is going to lose a lot of things. It needs to know this,” Erdogan said in Belgium at a press conference alongside Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel broadcast on Turkish television on October 6.

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