Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said Moscow and Ankara's military cooperation would not be deterred by the US imposing sanctions on Turkish officials earlier this month over Turkey acquiring a Russia-made missile defence system.

"We have confirmed our mutual intention to develop military ties with Turkey" despite "Washington's illegitimate pressure", Lavrov told reporters following talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Sochi on Tuesday.

Calling for an end to quotas, tariffs and obstacles, the Turkish foreign minister said Turkey and Russia aim for $100B in trade.

Cavusoglu said sectors like transport and agriculture needed to be liberalised to further facilitate trade between the two countries

Strong bilateral ties

Lavrov stressed that despite the coronavirus pandemic, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin remain in close contact. This year, two leaders met in person three times, took part in a videoconference in the Astana format, and had nearly two dozen phone conversations, Lavrov said.

"This statistic alone shows what a rich agenda fills our relations," said Lavrov.

"We have a rich international agenda, the Syrian settlement, Libya, other parts of the Middle East region, and Nagorno-Karabakh topic that recently came forward,” said Lavrov.

"We greatly value our trustful dialogue," he added.

Cavusoglu told the joint news conference that Turkey's relations with Russia are not an alternative to its ties with NATO and the European Union.

His comments came after fellow NATO member US sanctioned Turkish officials and the EU prepared punitive steps over Turkey's dispute with members Greece and Greek-administered Cyprus over Mediterranean offshore rights.

Cavusoglu stressed that the close dialogue between the Turkish and Russian presidents and the mutual trust between them, serves not only the development of bilateral relations but also regional ties.

READ MORE:Russia reinforces Syrian area where Turkey-backed SNA clashed with YPG

Vaccine cooperation

Turkey also aims to produce Russia's Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V domestically, Cavusoglu said.

Turkey requested more information from Russia about the vaccine and Health Minister Fahrettin Koca informed the presidential cabinet on Monday that everything was on the right track, Cavusoglu added.

Cavusoglu said he regretted that the pandemic kept the two countries from a full-fledged celebration of the 100th anniversary of their bilateral relations, but added he was satisfied to end the year with a personal meeting.

READ MORE:Covid-19 case in China customs delays vaccine delivery to Turkey

Cooperation in the Middle East and Karabakh

Touching on Russian and Turkish cooperation over issues in the Middle East, Cavusoglu said he was happy that the two countries were mostly in agreement.

He said an Astana-format meeting could be held in Sochi to discuss lasting peace in Syria. Earlier Lavrov had said Russia would be paying special attention to the situation in Idlib. 

Despite the creation of de-escalation zones in 2017 in Idlib and surrounding areas, the Syrian regime started military operations in May 2019 to seize the entire region. 

On March 5, Turkey and Russia held talks in Moscow and came to a new agreement. The ceasefire is largely intact but the Syrian regime recently stepped up attacks in Idlib.

Both diplomats said the two countries also intend to further the Karabakh agreement.