“We shall remind them many times about what they’ve done, and they will regret what they’ve done for a long time”, he said. “We have many friends in Turkey”, he said and added, “they should know that we do not equate them and part of the current Turkish leadership, which holds a direct responsibility for the deaths of our troops in Syria”, he stressed.
Advertisement
As British jets opened airstrikes against the Islamic State group in Syria and Germany prepared to send troops and aircraft to the region, Russia’s president called on the world Thursday to brandish “one powerful fist” in the fight against terrorism.
Turkish officials have said the plane violated Turkish airspace and had been warned repeatedly.
Tensions have risen between the two countries since the downing of a Russian jet by Turkish forces, although Erdogan has said he did not want to see relations with Russia worsen as a result.
Negotiations over the project to pipe Russian gas to Turkey under the Black Sea have been floundering since Moscow launched air strikes in Syria in late September in support of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, which Ankara fiercely opposes.
The foreign ministers of both countries, Sergei Lavrov and Mevlut Cavusoglu however met in Belgrade on Thursday in the first high-level bilateral talks since the attack on the Russian plane.
Mikhail Mizintsev, head of Russia’s National Center for Control of Defense, said the Defense Ministry would unveil more information next week about arms sales and terrorist training on Turkish soil, according to Pravda.
The ruthless leader also accused the country of buying oil from savage ISIS – a claim Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vehemently denied.
“We are not planning to engage in military saber-rattling (with Turkey)”, said Putin, after asking for a moment’s silence for the two Russian servicemen killed in the immediate aftermath of the incident, and for Russian victims of terrorism.
Turkey has strongly rejected Russian allegations it has any links with ISIS militants.
Russian Federation is challenging the Turkish government to disprove their accusations.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said it was “a little ironic” for the Russian leader to point a finger at others. Responding those allegations on Monday, Erdogan had said that he would be ready to resign if Russian Federation managed to prove the allegations.
Advertisement
Erdogan sought a meeting with Putin on the sidelines of a climate conference in Paris last week, but was snubbed.
