Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev blamed Turkey for worsening the relations between Russia and NATO.

Medvedev described the Turkish action of taking down the Russian Su-24 warplane near the Turkish-Syrian border on Tuesday as criminal, which will have three consequences.

First of all, this will lead to dangerous worsening of relations between Russia and NATO, which can not be justified by any interests, including protection of state borders.

Second, Turkey demonstrated that by its actions it actually protects the militants of Islamic State (IS).

According to Medvedev, this was not surprising, considering the information on the direct financial interest of some Turkish officials linked with the supply of IS-produced petroleum.

Third, the longstanding good neighbourly relations between Russia and Turkey, including in the economy and humanitarian spheres, have been undermined.

The worsening of relations will be difficult to repair and among its direct consequences might be the cessation of a number of important joint projects.

In the words of Medvedev, this could also result in Turkish companies losing their positions on the Russian market.

Earlier on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the incident will have negative consequences on the relations between the two countries.

Ankara claims that the Russian aircraft had violated Turkish airspace and was issued with ten warnings, while Moscow maintains that the airplane was in Syrian airspace.

The warplane was brought down with an air-to-air missile launched from a Turkish F-16 fighter jet, TASS news agency informs.

The two pilots ejected themselves, with one of them reportedly killed in midair by fire from the ground.

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