Turkey, Russia foreign ministers hold first meeting since downed plane

Lavrov told reporters after talks with his Cypriot counterpart in Nicosia he will meet with Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu “to hear what he has to say”, adding he spoke to Çavuşoğlu by phone the day after Turkey shot down a Russian aircraft but only heard “some excuses”.

“We met with the head of the Turkish Foreign Ministry on his insistent request, we heard nothing new”, Lavrov said at a news conference in Belgrade, televised in Russian Federation, adding that Russian Federation had also repeated its position on the downed plane.

“But if anyone thinks that after committing a treacherous war crime, the killing of our people, they will get away with (the ban on imports) of tomatoes or some restrictions on construction and other industries, they are deeply mistaken”.

Sharply raising the stakes in Moscow’s spat with Ankara, Russia’s top military brass on Wednesday accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his family of personally profiting from oil trade with Islamic State militants. “Turkey has not lost its moral values as to buy oil from a terror organization”, Erdogan said in Wednesday’s speech at Qatar University, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group, shortly after the Russian Defense Ministry made the claims. “We confirmed our views”, Lavrov said.

“We know the price of Erdogan’s words…”

Lavrov said his country’s aim is to ensure that the “overflow” of terrorist threats in Turkey don’t make their way into Russian Federation.

Mr Erdogan on Thursday claimed that the largest dealer for the ISIL oil is a Syrian who also has a Russian passport.

The incident along Turkey’s border with Syria has badly strained relations between Ankara and Moscow, and Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed Thursday never to forget it in a strongly-worded annual state of the nation address in Moscow. “Perhaps there will be something new after what has already been said publicly”. “I believe our colleagues, our Turkish neighbours, should understand themselves what they must do”, he said, without elaborating. The base “will begin being used by Russian forces before the end of this month”.