Russia and Turkey are extending gestures to one another in hopes of strengthening ties, but there are many factors at play: their opposing goals in the Syrian war, Black Sea politics and — not a small sticking point — Russia is still waiting for an apology and restitution for Turkey's downing of its jet last year.

The Russian Institute for Strategic Relations (RISS), founded by President Vladimir Putin, on June 2 hosted representatives of the Ankara Policy Center. On the meeting room table was a bottle of RISS whisky with the brand name Strategy. This was the table prepared to assist in the normalization of Russian-Turkish relations. RISS paid all the expenses of the Turkish team. Both sides reported the meeting's outcome to their national leaders.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, meanwhile, sent a letter of congratulations to Putin on the occasion of Russia's independence day (June 12) with the message, “I hope relations between Turkey and Russia will reach the levels they deserve.”

To manage this sensitive process, Erdogan transferred Turkey’s ambassador to Brazil, Huseyin Dirioz, who has NATO and Middle East experience, to Moscow. Dirioz, who once served as deputy secretary-general of NATO, also was ambassador to Jordan and worked as director-general of Middle East affairs in Turkey's Foreign Ministry. Another gesture by Erdogan was to invite Andrey Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Ankara, to an iftar meal (to break the day's Ramadan fast) with other foreign diplomats.