Russia 'does not plan war with Turkey'

Foreign minister in Moscow says attack on jet appears to be 'a planned provocation'

Russia's foreign minister said on Wednesday that the downing of its fighter jet by Turkey the day before appeared to be "a planned provocation", but said the countries will not go to war over the incident.

"We have serious doubts about this being an unpremeditated act. It really looks like a planned provocation," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a news conference in Moscow after speaking with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu.

"We do not plan to go to war with Turkey. Our attitude toward the Turkish people has not changed," Lavrov added, stressing that Moscow will however "seriously re-evaluate" its ties with Ankara.

"Such attacks are absolutely unacceptable," he said.

The Russian ambassador to France said on Wednesday that Russia would be prepared to "create a joint staff" to fight the Islamic State in which Moscow would work with France, the United States and even Turkey.

"We are prepared to ... plan strikes on Daesh (IS) positions together and create a joint staff with France, the US, with all the countries who want to be in this coalition," said Alexander Orlov, adding: "If the Turks want to be in it as well, they are welcome."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Turkey has no intention to escalate the tension with Russia. "We don't have any intention of escalating tension with Russia. We are just defending our security," the Turkish leader told a meeting of Islamic countries in Istanbul.

On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin had called Turkey's shooting down of a Russian Su-24 jet "a stab in the back from accomplices of terrorists," warning of "serious consequences in Moscow-Ankara relations".

No escalation of violence

Russian Ambassador to France Alexander Orlov said on Europe-1 radio on Wednesday that one of the pilots was wounded, then killed on the ground by "jihadists".

Orlov denied Turkish government statements that the Russian plane had been warned repeatedly about an airspace violation before shooting it down.

Orlov accused Turkey of being an "accomplice" of Islamic State extremists and playing an ambiguous role in Syria's civil war.

However, he played down concerns of an escalation of violence among the international players involved in Syria.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday that Turkey's actions to down the Russian Air Force plane in Syria were criminal. The prime minister commented to reporters on the events on arrival in Yekaterinburg, the Tass news agency reported.

"The recklessly criminal actions of the Turkish authorities that downed Russia's aircraft have three consequences," he said.

"First - it's the dangerous worsening of relations between Russia and NATO, which cannot be justified by any interests, including protection of the state borders. Second - Turkey has demonstrated by its actions, in fact, the protection of the militants of the Islamic State terrorist group."

AFP - Reuters - AP