Following the incident on Tuesday, Lavrov canceled a session of the Joint Russia-Turkey Strategic Planning Group Meeting in Turkey’s Istanbul, and the Foreign Ministry suggested Russians scrap their trips to Turkey for tourism or any other aims, citing security concerns.
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Turkey’s president has warned Russian Federation not to “play with fire”, as Moscow launches economic retaliation over the downing of one of its fighter jets near the Syrian border.
The Turkish embassy in Moscow was vandalized by unidentified perpetrators on Wednesday in apparent retaliation, a local news website reported.
The surviving pilot said that the jet did not violate Turkish airspace and that they did not receive any warnings from the Turkish side, refuting claims by Ankara that it warned the Russian jet a number of times.
“We are truly saddened by this incident”, Erdogan said. As Russia is important for Turkey, Turkey is important for Russia. “I hope something like this doesn’t happen again”.
Speaking with French President François Hollande, Putin said the USA and Russian Federation would need to have “serious consultations” concerning the warplane matter, according to the Associated Press.
But Erdogan insists Putin should say sorry for flying into his air space.
Ankara has also “temporarily” suspended air strikes against IS targets in Syria in order to avoid any further such confrontations, Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper said.
Mr Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said the Kremlin has received Mr Erdogan’s request for a meeting, but he would not say whether one will take place.
Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had expressed “sadness” over an incident which has severely strained relations, saying that “we wish it had never happened”.
Russian Federation said the downing of the aircraft was “an act of aggression” that warrants retaliatory economic sanctions that include restricting tourist travel, suspending military communications and scrutinizing food imports.
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The prime minister also said that with different coalitions operating in Syria with differing objectives, similar incidents, like the downing of the Russian jet, could happen unless there was information sharing and coordination.
