Obama calls for calm in Russia-Turkey plane row
US president pushes Moscow to focus its airstrikes in Syria on Islamic State targets, not rebels fighting Assad
LE BOURGET, France — US President Barack Obama pushed Monday for a “de-escalation” of a furious war of words over Turkey’s downing of a Russian warplane last week, a White House official said.
Obama called for an easing of inflamed tensions in a closed-door meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the eve of a climate summit in Paris, the official said.
Hours earlier, Turkey sent back to Russia the body of a pilot killed when his plane was shot down by the Turkish air force on November 24 for allegedly violating its air space on the Syrian border, reports said.
One of the Russian pilots aboard the downed plane was shot dead in Syria after parachuting from the burning aircraft, while the second was found safe and sound. One Russian soldier was killed in a rescue operation.
Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan have been at loggerheads since the incident, and the Kremlin strongman rejected the Turkish leader’s offer of face-to-face talks on the sidelines of the climate conference in the French capital.
“President Obama expressed his regret for the recent loss of a Russian pilot and crew member and reiterated the United States’ support for de-escalation between Russia and Turkey,” the White House official said.
The Russian and US leaders discussed efforts to bring about a ceasefire and political resolution to war in Syria, he said, though there appeared to be no breakthrough over Moscow’s support for embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Obama pushed Putin to focus Russia’s air campaign in Syria on Islamic State jihadists.
“President Obama reiterated his belief that it will be necessary for Bashar Assad to leave power as a part of the transition and stressed the imperative of focusing military efforts against [IS], as our international coalition is doing, rather than targeting moderate opposition,” the White House official said.
Obama also offered the prospect of rolling back sanctions if Russia fully implemented Minsk peace accords signed in February over the Ukraine crisis.
The accords set out a lengthy political roadmap to resolve the conflict in the east between Kiev and pro-Russian rebels but have been delayed into next year due to wrangling between all sides.
The Kremlin confirmed in a statement that Putin and Obama had met for half an hour in Paris, without providing further details.