Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the downing of the Su-24 warplane near the Turkish-Syrian border on Tuesday will have a negative consequences on the relations between Moscow and Ankara.

Putin identified the attack as a crime and highlighted that Russia will not tolerate it, TASS news agency quotes him as saying.

According to the Russian president, the shooting down of the airplane goes beyond normal struggle against terrorism and was a “stab in Russia's back delivered by terrorist accomplices”.

Putin noted that the aircraft was brought down by an air-to-air missile launched from a Turkish F-16 fighter jet.

According to Turkey, the Russian airplane had violated Turkish airspace and was issued with ten warnings before being attacked by two Turkish F-16 fighter jets, while Russia maintains that the airplane was above Syrian territory.

The fate of the two pilots remains unclear, with earlier reports suggesting that both pilots managed to eject the airplane.

Later reports emerged that one of the pilots was dead.

The Turkish military attache in Russia has been summoned to the Russian Defence Ministry.

Meanwhile, the governing body of NATO, the North Atlantic Council will convene at an extraordinary meeting on the request of Turkey.

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