The Turkish air force shot down the Russian jet last week for allegedly violating its airspace near the Syrian border.
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The Russian diplomat said that Russia continued supporting a comprehensive, fair and viable settlement to the Cyprus problem on the basis of the UN Security Council resolutions on Cyprus. He added that Turkey had consistently asked to arrange such a meeting.
Speaking after talks with his Cypriot counterpart on Wednesday, Lavrov said his country’s aim is to ensure that it doesn’t allow the “overflow” of terrorist threats in Turkey from making their way into Russian Federation.
The Russian plane’s downing has badly strained the relationship between the two nations that had earlier developed close economic ties.
“We never said oil smuggling from ISIL is not a problem”, he said, using an alternative acronym for IS.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday that Washington welcomed Russia’s involvement in efforts to end the Syrian conflict, where Moscow could play an “extremely constructive” role. The Russian pilot was killed by militants after bailing out from the plane and a Russian marine was also killed on a rescue mission to retrieve a second pilot. Turkey has so far not responded to Russian sanctions and is waiting to communicate with the country in “a healthy environment”, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said, APA reports quoting Anadolu Agency.
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Lavrov said he spoke with his Turkish counterpart the next day after the November 24 downing of the Russian Su-24 jet.
