Turkey seeks to diversify gas supplies amid dispute with Russia

“We will remind them not once about what they have done, and they will feel sorry about it a couple of times”.

He added: “And evidently Allah chose to punish the ruling clique in Turkey, by depriving it of any reason or logic”.

Putin used a state of the nation speech at the Kremlin to warn Turkey that “if someone thinks they can commit war crimes, kill our people and get away with it, suffering nothing but a ban on tomato imports, as well as a few restrictions in construction or other industries, they’re delusional”.

Mr Putin repeated his call for a joint front under the United Nations to defeat terrorism, saying it is impossible to achieve that goal “through the efforts of a single country”.

The work underway at the Shaayrat air base, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of the city of Homs, could also signal Moscow’s intention to step up airstrikes in the country’s central region where the Islamic State group is active.

Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has rejected as “Soviet-style propaganda”, Russian allegations that Ankara is in league with militants to smuggle oil.

German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier described the situation as “too unsafe, and freedom and stability too fragile, for us to counter each other” – an apparent reference to the spat caused by the downing of a Russian plane by Turkey.

The Russian military operation in Syria is, above all, the protection of Russia’s interests, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

“We have received additional data which confirm that Islamic State oil… enters the territory of Turkey”, Putin said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday said Turkey had proof Russia was involved in illegal oil trade with the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria, countering “immoral” Russian allegations that his own family was importing oil from the jihadists.

Ankara said the plane moved into Turkish airspace and was given ample warning; Moscow denies both assertions, saying the aircraft was downed over Syria. “We know what needs to be done”. Russia denied the charge.In the attack, a Russian pilot onboard the jet was killed.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu were expected to meet briefly in Belgrade, Serbia, on the sidelines of of an Organisation for Security and Co-operation meeting. Islamic State claimed responsibility for downing a Russian tourist plane in Egypt in October, killing 224.

On Wednesday, Russian military officials outlined what they said was “hard evidence” of Turkish involvement in the trade – alleging Erdogan and his family were involved in the business.

“During the Cold War there was a Soviet propaganda machine”.

“Turkey is the main buyer of oil stolen by IS. It is for Russian Federation and Turkey to come to terms”.