MOSCOW, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) — The food embargo against Turkey might be lifted by the end of 2016, Russian Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev was quoted by the RIA Novosti news agency as saying on Wednesday.

"We agreed that this is a gradual process," Ulyukayev said, noting that outstanding issues on meat, poultry and dairy products would be resolved bilaterally.

"We need to be sure that the qualities of the supplied Turkish products meet the requirements of Rosselkhoznadzor, the Russian agricultural watchdog agency," he added.

Russia has imposed a number of restrictive measures, including a food embargo, on Turkey in response to the downing of a Russian warplane by a Turkish fighter jet in Syria in November 2015.