Russia wants to preserve good relations with Turkey: Kremlin
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting on agriculture in Rostov region, Russia, September 24, 2015 (Reuters)


Russia wants to keep good ties with Turkey, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday, after Ankara voiced its frustration at Moscow's military intervention in Syria."As for the Russian air force operation in Syria, our actions in support of safeguarding Syria contribute to ensuring stability and security in the region sitting on Turkey's borders," Peskov told a call with journalists.Peskov also said any increased presence of British troops in eastern Europe would be regrettable and would amount to Britain using an alleged Russian threat as camouflage to press ahead with NATO expansion.Peskov said Russia would act in order to ensure "parity" should Britain do this. Turkey, which has the second-largest army in NATO, scrambled two F-16 jets on Saturday after a Russian aircraft crossed into its airspace near its southern province of Hatay, the Turkish foreign ministry said.In a second incident, the Turkish military said a MiG-29 fighter jet - an aircraft used both by Russia and Syria's own air force - had harassed two of its F-16s by locking its radar on to them on Sunday as they patrolled the border.