All news

Russian lawmaker proposes halting economic, diplomatic ties with Turkey

Leonid Kalashnikov first of all proposes to summon the Russian ambassador in Turkey to Moscow for the consultations and to talk to the Turkish ambassador in Russia

MOSCOW, November 24. /TASS/. Russia's State Duma’s International Affairs Committee deputy head Leonid Kalashnikov on Tuesday proposed that Russia halts diplomatic relations with Turkey following the downing of the Russian Su-24 warplane in Syria.

"We should immediately freeze economic relations with Turkey, diplomatic ties may be halted as well," Kalashnikov told TASS.

The lawmaker first of all proposed to summon the Russian ambassador in Turkey to Moscow for the consultations and to talk to the Turkish ambassador in Russia.

"The Turkish side has made it on purpose on the day of the meeting between US President Barack Obama and French President Francois Hollande in order to prevent any constructive decision on the peacekeeping operation [in Syria]," Kalashnikov said.

The Su-24 frontline bomber of the Russian aviation group in Syria crashed in the Syrian territory on Tuesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the plane was downed by an air-to-air missile launched by a Turkish F-16 fighter.

According to the Russian president, at the moment of the attack the Russian Su-24 plane was flying at an altitude of 6,000 meters at a distance of one kilometer from the Turkish border and posed no threat to Turkey. Putin called the incident a "stab in the back" of Russia delivered by "terrorism accomplices."