Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the killing of Russian ambassador Andrey Karlov was a "provocation aimed at derailing Russia-Turkey ties and the peace process in Syria."Speaking in televised remarks during a meeting with senior officials, Putin said that Russian investigators will be part of the official probe into the assassination of ambassador Karlov in Ankara.

Meanwhile, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in a video message broadcasted on several Turkish TV channels, said that this was "a provocation to damage the normalization process of Turkish-Russian relations. But both Russian and Turkish administrations are determined not to fall for this provocation."

Russian Ambassador to Ankara Andrey Karlov was killed on Monday following an attack by an unidentified gunman during the opening reception of an art exhibition in the Turkish capital.

The assailant, who was said to be an off-duty policeman, was shot dead during an operation by special forces at the scene.

The attack comes a day before FM Çavuşoğlu, his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif of Iran were to hold unprecedented tripartite talks in Moscow on the Syria conflict.