President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, confirmed Friday that Turkish President Recep Erdogan tried to contact Putin after a Russian Su-24 fighter-bomber was downed, state news agency RIA Novosti reported.
“It was 7-8 hours after the incident, not earlier. The president was informed of this request,” Peskov was cited by RIA Novosti as saying. He added that Putin was also informed that Erdogan requested a meeting with Putin in Paris on Nov. 30, where both of them would attend a summit on climate change.
On Thursday Erdogan claimed in an interview with the France 24 TV channel that he called Putin right after the incident, but the latter didn't respond.
On Tuesday, a Russian Su-24 fighter-bomber was downed by an air-to-air missile from a Turkish F-16 interceptor near the Turkish-Syrian border. Turkey said the jet had violated its airspace while Russia insisted that the plane was on Syrian territory.
Commenting on the incident, Russian President Vladimir Putin said it would affect relations between the two countries.
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