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Turkey will not apologise to Russia over jet downing: Minister

The Turkish foreign minister vowed that Ankara would not apologise for downing the plane, while Moscow said it was preparing a raft of retaliatory economic measures.

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The televised statement by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev came a day after Russian media reported hundreds of trucks bringing Turkish goods stranded at the border. One of the pilots was killed, the other was rescued.

Peskov added that no separate meeting has been planned so far between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the upcoming Paris Climate Change Conference, which both leaders are expected to attend.

Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said Moscow could put limits on flights to and from Turkey, halt preparations for a joint free trade zone, and restrict high-profile projects including the TurkStream gas pipeline and a $20 billion nuclear power plant Russian Federation is building in Turkey.

Last year, Russian Federation imposed a ban on food imports from the USA and European Union nations in retaliation for their sanctions over the Crimea issue.

Erdogan dubbed a “huge mistake” Putin’s claim that Turkey is an accomplice to terrorism and that shooting down Russia’s plane “represents a stab in the back”. It was the first time in half a century that a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member had shot down a Russian plane. Russian Federation previously insisted that its plane never violated the Turkish airspace as Turkey claimed.

Speaking at the Kremlin on Thursday, Putin complained that Turkey has not made an offer “to make up for the damages”.

Even as Erdogan has insisted Turkey doesn’t want to escalate the situation, the anger in his words – and in Putin’s – demonstrate how the conflict in Syria has stoked a new wave of worldwide turbulence.

It has just been reported that the S-400 system has already been delivered to Syria and deployed at Hmeymim airbase. “President Hollande will talk to us in greater detail about it. We would be ready to seriously consider the necessary measures for this”, Lavrov said. Wednesday, they released what they said are audio recordings of the warnings.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow believes that the U.S. State Department has information about the men who shot the Russian pilot as he parachuted down and was waiting for Washington to share information about “who was dancing over the body of the Russian pilot”.

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“Shame on you. Those who claim we buy oil from Daesh are obliged to prove it. If not, you are a slanderer”, he said in a speech, using an alternative name for IS.

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