Russian President Vladimir Putin has ruled out rapprochement with Turkey after Ankara shot down a Russian warplane that violated its airspace last month.
“On the level of bilateral state relations I don’t see prospects to improve ties with the current Turkish leadership,” Putin said yesterday.
Putin described the downing of the Russian warplane as “an act of enmity” which contradicts Turkey’s interests.
“What have they achieved? Maybe they thought that we would run away from there [Syria]? But Russia is not such a country,” he added.
The Russian president explained that his country has reinforced and bolstered its military presence in Syria.
“When the jet was downed, there was no S-400 air defence system in Syria. Now, we have beefed up our air force and there is an S-400 air defence system there. Turkish jets used to fly in Syrian air space; they were violating Syrian airspace. Let’s see if they can fly there now,” he said.
Relations between Moscow and Ankara deteriorated after two Turkish F-16s downed a Russian Sukhoi on 24 November after it violated Turkish airspace.