Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg offered support for Ankara on Tuesday (24 November) after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border. He rejected any suggestion that the incident happened outside of Turkeys borders.
Asked if there was any possibility that the plane was actually shot down inside Syria, Stoltenberg said: The allied assessments that we have are consistent with the information we have from Turkey, he told a news conference in Brussels.
I have previously expressed my concerns about the implications of the military actions of the Russian Federation close to Nato borders. This highlights the importance of having and respecting arrangements to avoid such incidents in the future. As we have repeatedly made clear we stand in solidarity with Turkey and support the territorial integrity of our Nato ally.
What we are calling for now is calm and de-escalation. This is a serious situation, this is a situation which calls on [prudence] and that we all contribute to de-escalating the situation, he added.
Russia has accused Turkey of shooting down one of its fighter jets nearly a mile inside Syria and Russian President Vladimir Putin and warned of serious consequences.
