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At NATO, Turkey defiant over downing of Russian jet

Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said his country would not apologize to Russian Federation for shooting down the warplane and said he hoped Russian Federation would reconsider sanctions.

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“President Obama expressed his regret for the recent loss of a Russian pilot and crew member and reiterated the United States’ support for de-escalation between Russia and Turkey”, the White House official said.

The two nations have been at odds since Turkey shot down the jet near the Turkey-Syria border on Tuesday, saying it had violated Turkish airspace. Ankara says it had warned Moscow multiple times previously over airspace violations on its Syrian border.

“No meeting with Erdogan is planned”.

“We have been telling our Russian friends that their bombardments against civilians on our border is creating new waves of refugees which do not go to Russia or to any other country – but coming to Turkey”, he said.

Under the decree, the import of certain products originating from Turkey will be temporarily banned or restricted, RT reported.

Peshkov was killed in circumstances that have yet to be fully explained while the second pilot, Konstantin Murakhtin, was rescued unharmed and has already spoken to Russian media.

Russian media has portrayed the handover of the remains as a goodwill gesture on the part of Ankara after several days of heated rhetoric over the downing.

“No Turkish prime minister or president will apologize… because of doing our duty”, Davutoglu told reporters after meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels.

In response to the incident, Russia introduced a host of measures against Turkey, including imposing economic sanctions, announcing an end to the visa-free regime and calling on Russian tourists to not visit the country on security grounds.

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“If the Russian side wants to talk, we are ready; if they want more information, we are ready; if they want to normalise relations, we are ready to talk”, he said.

Russia's Sukhoi Su-34 frontline bomber in Syria