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Kremlin: Early to speak about progress on creating anti-terrorism coalition

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on Tuesday’s proposal of Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to open military channels of communication with Moscow
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov  Mikhail Metzel/TASS
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov
© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

MOSCOW, December 1. /TASS/. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday it is early to speak about progress on setting up a united coalition against terrorists in Syria.

"I think it is early to say that yesterday somehow brought us closer to creating a single coalition," Peskov said speaking about bilateral meetings of Russian President Vladimir Putin at the international conference on climate in Paris on Monday.

Peskov also said "understanding the need of intensifying the exchange of information is growing." However, the partners are not yet ready for the real operational cooperation, he added.

The November 24 attack of the Turkish Air Force on the Russian Su-24 jet that was carrying out an anti-terrorism operation has aroused serious concerns of other countries, Peskov said.

The Kremlin spokesman stressed that "such incidents show the importance" of exchanging information and cooperation mechanisms.

According to Peskov, the incident showed that Turkey had not planned to use the military channels of communication with Russia. He commented on Tuesday’s proposal of Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to open military channels of communication with Moscow.

"The military channels of communication between our military existed and they were aimed at preventing such tragedies that occurred (with Su-24 jet). These channels did not work and this is not due to the fault of the Russian side," Peskov stressed.

"As we see, the circumstances of the incident indicate that most likely no one planned to use the channels that existed at that moment," he said.

Peskov reminded that Russia has suspended military contacts with Turkey. He declined to comment on whether these contacts could be restored.