Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Erdogan ate lunch off of plates with their faces on them
Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters
The relationship of the two nations soured after Turkey shot down a Russian plane that had flown into Turkish airspace back in November 2015. At the time, Putin said the downing of the plane was a "stab in the back delivered to us by accomplices of terrorist."
But in a surprise change-up, Putin accepted Erdogan's apology for the incident in June, and now the two counterparts seem to be ready to patch things up. Earlier this week, Erdogan praised the upcoming talks as a "new beginning" for relations between the two nations and an opportunity to strengthen economic ties. He also called Putin a "friend."
"This visit seems to me a new milestone in bilateral relations, beginning with a clean slate, and I personally, with all my heart and on behalf of the Turkish nation salute Mr Putin and all Russians," Erdogan said in an interview with Russian state media on Tuesday.
Notably, the mid-diplomacy meal featured an interesting detail.
Russian new website LifeNews posted a photo of some unique dishware, which appears to have featured the likeness of both Putin and Erdogan shaking hands.
Check out an image of the plate taken by a LifeNews reporter below:
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- Life ??????? (@lifenews_ru) August 9, 2016
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