The decision of the Government of the Russian Federation that “its intention not to be party to the Agreement between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Turkey on Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement in Civil, Commercial and Criminal cases, signed on 15 December 1997, in Ankara to be notified to the Republic of Turkey” was approved by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin on 30 December 2015.

As a matter of fact, both Parties had agreed in 2002 not to approve the Agreement through their competent authorities and to put it into force, although the Agreement referred to in the decision had been signed in 1997,

Hence, the above mentioned decision of the Government of the Russian Federation has not been a new development and it does not signify any more importance or meaning than reflecting the mutual agreement reached in 2002.