"Russia's leadership has taken a decision to suspend the visa-free regime between Russia and Turkey. This decision will come into force from January 1," Lavrov said, TASS wrote.
Lavrov reiterated that Russia had been concerned about growing terrorist threats coming from Turkey. "This is directly linked with the security of Russia and our citizens," he said.
"There is a well-run traffic of gunmen via Turkey in various directions," he said, adding that Turkey has been reluctant to tell Russia about the cooperation in this issue.
"These are not farfetched threats – these are quite real threats," Lavrov stressed.
The visa-free regime between Russia and Turkey was introduced in 2011.
The Russian-Turkish relations became tense after a Turkish F-16 fighter jet downed a Russian Su-24 frontline bomber on Tuesday, November 24. Turkey insists that the Russian aircraft violated its airspace, while the Russian side denies that.
The Russian customs houses have already started blocking imports from Turkey, and the Russian government announced it would present on November 28 a list of sanctions that might be introduced against Turkey.
