ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey's deputy prime minister says President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to travel to Russia next month to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin — the first meeting between the two leaders as relations between the two countries mend following Turkey's apology for the downing of a Russian fighter jet last year.

Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency reported that Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek said Tuesday that Erdogan and Putin would meet in St. Petersburg on Aug. 9.

Erdogan sent a letter of apology to Putin in late June. Since then, the two countries have moved to normalize relations, restoring anti-terror cooperation and military contacts and lifting Russian restrictions on tourism to Turkey.