‘Attack a planned provocation’

Russia’s top diplomat says the country is not planning to host any Turkish officials or contemplating any official visits to Turkey; second crew member of downed jet rescued by special forces

MOSCOW/DAMASCUS: Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday described the downing of its fighter jet by Turkey as a “planned provocation” but said the countries would not go to war over the incident.

“We have serious doubts about this being an unpremeditated act, it really looks like a planned provocation,” Lavrov said in Moscow after speaking with 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 would “seriously reevaluate” its ties with Ankara. “Such attacks are absolutely unacceptable,” he said.

Lavrov also backed a proposal by French President Francois Hollande to close off the Syrian-Turkish border to prevent fighters from flooding into Syria, saying the idea may be raised by Hollande during his visit to Moscow on Thursday.

Russian authorities reacted furiously to the downing of the Russian Su-24 warplane on the Syrian border on Tuesday, with President Vladimir Putin calling it a “stab in the back committed by accomplices of terrorists”.

Both Putin and Lavrov have warned Russian citizens against travelling to Turkey in the aftermath of the incident, citing terrorist threats in the country.

Russia’s top diplomat said on Wednesday the country was not planning on hosting any Turkish officials nor contemplating making any official visits to Turkey.

PILOT RESCUED

One of the two Russian personnel whose jet was shot down by Turkey and crashed in Syria arrived on Wednesday at an air base in Latakia province after being rescued by a Syrian army commando unit, Syrian and Russian officials said.

He told the state media that there was no prior warning from the Turkish side. “There was no warning, not by radio exchange nor visually. There was no contact at all,” navigator Konstantin Murakhtin told journalists in Syria.

RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN WAS FURIOUS OVER THE DOWNING OF THE WARPLANE, CALLING IT A “STAB IN THE BACK”