LOC18:42
15:42 GMT
MOSCOW, Nov 24 (KUNA) -- The downing of a Su-24 jet by Turkish Air Force is a stab in Russia's back, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.
The incident will have "grave consequences" for Russia's relations with Turkey, Putin warned during a meeting with visiting Jordanian King Abdullah II in Sochi, according to the Russian TV.
Putin said that Russia has always treated Turkey, not simply as a close neighbor, but as a friendly state, adding that he had no idea who needed what has happened today, "but in any case it's not us."
The Russian pilots and jet posed no threat to Turkey, but they were conducting an operation against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Putin said.
He stressed that the plane was flying "above (Syria's) northern Lattakia" where militants coming from Russia are concentrated.
For the Russian leader, Turkey's contacts with NATO member states following the attack looked like an attempt to make the alliance serve the ISIL.
For his part, King Abdullah II of Jordan stressed Russia's role for concluding a political solution to the crisis in Syria.
He said terrorism is not only threatening Syria or Iraq but the entire region and Europe.
The King urged the international community to get more united to counter the phenomenon. (end)
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