MOSCOW, April 27. /TASS/. The incident with the downed Russian Su-24 fighter jet is not the case when apologies may mend the situation, Turkish Ambassador to Russia Umit Yardym said on Wednesday.

"We have been repeating several times that we regret the incident," Yardym told the Moscow Union of Journalists. "This is not the development of events we would have been wishing for."

"When such a situation erupts, one should sit at the negotiating table," the Turkish diplomat said. "That is not the case when the solution is found after apologies are issued."

Relations between Russia and Turkey have been locked in a spat over the downing of a Russian Su-24M bomber on November 24, 2015 by the Turkish Air Force’s fighter jet. Ankara claims the bomber violated the Turkish air space in the area of the border with Syria. However, Russia’s Defense Ministry said the Su-24M plane stayed exclusively over the Syrian territory and "there was no violation of the Turkish air space."