Downed Russian jet violated Turkish airspace

Turkey’s downing of a Russian warplane near the Syrian border has put a strain on the peace talks for Syria as well as fraying previously warm bilateral ties, Russia’s foreign ministry spokesman said Tuesday.

Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that should any such evidence come to the surface, he would be prepared to resign.

The two leaders discussed “how Turkey and Russian Federation can work together to de-escalate tensions” and find a diplomatic path to resolve the issue, he said.

“We all have a common enemy. But I am asking Mr Putin, would you remain?” They have invested for years now in keeping Assad in power.

Putin, who has signed a decree imposing economic sanctions on Turkey over the incident, has said Turkey shot down the jet because it wanted to protect supplies of oil from Islamic State militants.

Moscow has already deployed a land based air defence missile system just 50 miles from Turkey’s border in response to the jet downing fiasco.

According to a statement from Russian government Tuesday, Russian side will halt the import of Turkish white meat goods as well as vegetables and fruits like tomatos, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers, oranges, apples, pears, strawberries and tangerines as of January 1, 2016. Russian Federation says it’s conducting preemptive strikes against ISIL militants but Turkey insists that there are no ISIL militants in the area.

Sitting down with Erdogan on the sidelines of climate talks, Obama said the US was very interested in accelerating its military relationship with Turkey.

“Military channels between the two countries existed and they were meant to prevent such a tragedy that took place [with the Russian Su-24 bomber]”, Peskov said. Yet he emphasized the need for Turkey and Russian Federation to “de-escalate” their conflict and stay focused on the IS threat and the need to resolve Syria’s long-running civil war. Turkey has insisted it won’t apologize for the shoot-down, which led Russia to slap a package of new sanctions against Russian products.

“The available information, including evidence from Turkey and our own sources, indicates the Russian aircraft violated Turkish airspace”, State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau told a daily press briefing.

Obama said he did not expect a quick reversal of Putin’s strategy in Syria, but Moscow may eventually align itself with the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State.