A top Russian diplomat said yesterday that Turkey should pay compensation for the Russian warplane it shot down, a call Turkey had rejected.
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The Russian navy fired on a Turkish fishing vessel in the Aegean Sea Sunday, after which Russia warned Turkey to stop staging provocations against the Russian military. One of the two Russian pilots was killed.
President Vladimir Putin addresses the end-of-year news conference at Kremlin in Moscow.
Putin also appeared to take aim at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Putin said his country remains stunned that Ankara has yet to provide a satisfactory explanation for the episode.
“It is hard for us to reach agreement with the current Turkish leadership, if at all possible”, Putin said during his annual news conference. Maybe, they thought that we would run away from there (Syria)?
He said that Russian Federation had “found contacts” with people among the “armed, uncompromising” opposition in Syria. “On interstate level, I do not see the prospect for improving relations”.
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Samantha Power, US ambassador to the United Nations, said in NY that the resolution embracing the Vienna process and capitalizing on its momentum would be the first decision by the council showing unity over the political situation in Syria. He said Russian Federation and the USA agree on the need to ensure the drafting of a new constitution for Syria and create mechanisms of control over future elections, in which Syrians themselves will determine their leadership. He said his talks with U.S. Secretary John Kerry earlier this week showed that Washington is ready to “move toward settling the issues that can only be settled through joint efforts”.
