While Kerry said there were still “kinks” that needed to be worked out on the strategy to unite the opposition groups, the Kremlin rejected the outcome of the Riyadh assembly, saying it had no right to talk on behalf of the whole Syrian opposition.
Advertisement
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday that the Smetlivy destroyer fired warning shots after a Turkish fishing boat came within 1,600 feet of the warship in the Aegean Sea.
The company said the Turkish vessel created an “emergency situation” that led to a Russian naval missile and patrol boat intervening.
The Defense Ministry summoned the Turkish defense attache in Moscow over what it described as the “provocative actions” of the Turkish ship.
A treaty between the countries allows Russia’s Black Sea fleet access to the Aegean Sea by way of the Bosphorus, which bisects the Turkish city.
The defence ministry and the FSB security service did not comment. “Russian Federation and Turkey certainly have to re-establish the relations of trust that we have always had, but our patience has a limit”.
The two countries have been at odds over Syria since the early days of the five-year conflict, but differences boiled over with the Russian military intervention to bolster the Assad regime. These conditions include the need for Turkey to apologize for the downing of the Russian fighter jet that caused the death of its two servicemen; Turkey should also identify and punish those responsible for the incident, and to pay for the damages it caused.
Turkey alleges that the plane violated Turkish airspace, whereas Russian Federation says it never entered Turkish territory.
Do you think the rising tensions between Russian Federation and Turkey could spark World War 3?
Putin also called the incident a “stab in the back, carried out by the accomplices of terrorists”.
“We are not in favour of tensions”.
The foreign minister said that Turkey was one of the first countries that put Daesh on the terrorist organizations list in October 2013.
Cavusoglu further questions Russia’s real motives in the fight against Islamic State, claiming just 8 percent of the Russian airstrikes have targeted ISIS, while 92 percent have been against other groups hostile to Assad.
Advertisement
On 2 December, Russia’s defence ministry accused the family of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of being directly involved in the trade of oil with the so-called Islamic State group – Mr Erdogan calls the claim “slander”. At the same time, the air strikes haven’t achieved the progress on the ground that officials in Moscow expected and the US has urged Russian Federation to change its stance to avoid a quagmire in Syria.
