Russian ambassador killing: Vladimir Putin vows 'robust response' after ambassador shot dead in Ankara

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to share details of Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov's killing, who was murdered by a gunman while visiting an art gallery in Ankara. 

During the conversation, Putin was briefed about the shooting of the Russian diplomat. The gunman is believed to have shouted, "We die in Aleppo, you die here and don't forget about Aleppo, don't forget about Syria, Allahu Akbar...," Sputnik news reported. Russian officials have since then demanded that the shooting of the Russian Ambassador be labelled as "an act of terror."

After the attack, Putin said that the attack in Ankara was a "provocation," which was aimed at spoiling the Russia-Turkey bilateral ties and postponing Moscow's attempt to find solutions (along with Iran) for the Syrian crisis, Reuters reported. 

Putin has now ordered security at Russian embassies across the globe to be stepped up. 

Talking about the Russian Ambassador Andrei Karlov, who was shot in the back while giving a speech at an art gallery in Ankara, Putin said Russia's response to the assassination would be robust.

"A crime has been committed and it was, without a doubt, a provocation aimed at spoiling the normalisation of Russo-Turkish relations and spoiling the Syrian peace process which is being actively pushed by Russia, Turkey, Iran and others," Reuters quoted Putin as saying.

The Russian Ambassador's assassination comes a day before political leaders of Russia, Iran and Turkey planned to hold a meeting in Moscow. The officials and defence ministers of the three nations planned to discuss the situation in Aleppo and hold talks about the future of Syria. 

In the video below, Vladimir Putin's talks about the Russian Ambassador's assassination: