Turkish, Russian foreign ministers to meet over downing of Russian warplane

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu is expected to meet with his Russian counterpart Lavrov over the shooting of Russian warplane, a statement released by the Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, while Lavrov said that they did not have a solid plan for a meeting.

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic said in a written statement that Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu and Lavrov agreed to a meeting "in the coming days," during a telephone conversation Wednesday.

"In their discussion, agreement was reached to share details on the matter via diplomatic and military channels," spokesman Tanju Bilgic said.

Bilgic said during their conversation, Çavuşoğlu briefed Lavrov on Turkey's action.

The two agreed to share details on the incident through "diplomatic and military channels."

According to an official, the two foreign ministers may meet at the upcoming OSCE foreign ministers meeting in Belgrade.

But Lavrov said during a live TV interview that they had no concrete plans for a meeting. Lavrov said that he suggested that he and Çavuşoğlu could meet on the sidelines of some international event, but didn't say there is any such plan.

The countries' relations have soured after the downing of a Russian military jet for its violation of Turkish airspace on Tuesday.

Lavrov has already cancelled a visit to Turkey in the wake of the incident.

On Tuesday, two Turkish F-16 fighter jets on an aerial patrol intercepted a Russian warplane within engagement rules when it intruded into Turkish airspace near the Syrian border.

The intruding aircraft was warned about the violation 10 times within five minutes before it was shot down, according to the Turkish military.

Russia's Defense Ministry confirmed that one of its SU-24 fighter jets had been brought down, crashing in the Syrian region of Bayırbucak, close to the Yayladağı district of southern Hatay province.

NATO confirmed the accuracy of the information Turkey shared about the violation by the Russian warplane.

This was not the first time Russian fighter jets violated Turkish airspace.

In early October, Russian warplanes breached Turkish airspace for which Russian officials apologized and pledged that no such incident would be repeated; Turkey had also renewed its warning to implement engagement rules, including a military response against violations of Turkish airspace.