Putin rejects meeting with Erdogan as dispute rages on

Source:AFP Published: 2015-12-1 0:53:01

Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected a meeting with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the climate conference in Paris on Monday, the Kremlin said, as a dispute rages over Ankara's downing of a Russian warplane.

A photo released on Sunday by the Turkish army press office shows Russian army officers standing in front of the coffin of Russian pilot Lieutenant Colonel Oleg Peshkov during a ceremony at Esenboga airport in Ankara. Turkey returned the remains of Pestikov, who was killed when his plane was shot down by the Turkish air force for allegedly violating the country's air space on the Syrian border. Photo: AFP



"No meeting with Erdogan is planned. There is no discussion of such a meeting," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by AFP as saying on Monday.

Putin's snub comes after the Turkish leader called for face-to-face talks with Putin on the sidelines of the summit to discuss the shooting down of the plane on the Syria-Turkish border.

Putin is likely to meet US President Barack Obama for informal talks on the margins of the climate conference in Paris, the Kremlin said.

World leaders are gathering in Paris for an historic summit aimed at ending decades of political gridlock and forging an elusive agreement to avert calamitous global warming.

Moscow and Ankara are at daggers drawn over the incident on November 24, with Russia announcing a raft of economic sanctions against Turkey and the two leaders engaging in a furious war of words.

Turkey will not apologize for downing a Russian fighter jet on the Syrian border but Moscow should reconsider retaliatory sanctions, Turkish Premier Ahmet Davutoglu said Monday as he held talks at NATO headquarters.

"Protection of our airspace, our border is not only a right but a duty for my government and no Turkish premier or president ... will apologize [for] doing our duty," Davutoglu told a joint press conference with NATO head Jens Stoltenberg.

Davutoglu added that "we hope Russia will reconsider these measures in both our interests," referring to the sanctions that Moscow imposed after the incident. "If the Russian side wants to talk, we are ready; if they want more information, we are ready; if they want to normalize relations, we are ready to talk," he said.



Posted in: Mid-East, Europe

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