Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said this evening in Belgrade that he did not hear anything new about the downing of the Russian plane at the meeting with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Russian and Turkish ministers met today on the sidelines of the OSCE meeting in Belgrade for the first time since the incident in which Turkey shot down a Russian military plane.
"I met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at his urgent request, we have not heard anything new," Lavrov said in a statement to reporters.
Lavrov said that at the meeting he reiterated Russia's position that shooting down the plane is a criminal act that goes against all norms of international law.
Regarding accusations from Turkey that Russian citizens were involved in the purchase of oil from the terrorist Islamic State, Lavrov said it was strange that this was stated only after Russia made allegations of illegal oil trade.
He said that he discussed measures to close the Syrian-Turkish border, as well as the Turkish-Iraqi border, with US Secretary of State John Kerry.
"It's all connected. We presented our ideas on how it can be done. The Americans understand that it should be done and they understand that the Kurds are allies of the US and other countries," Lavrov said.
Regarding the sanctions against Turkey, he said that the downing of the plane could not go unanswered, but that Moscow will try to ensure that these measures do not affect ordinary people.
Lavrov also said that Kerry stated that the US would study the Russian Defense Ministry's reports on Turkey and the illegal oil trade.
The Russian minister said that everything that is not related to the fight against terrorism should be put aside, since it is the main enemy of all.
Lavrov said that the work on the document on terrorism is being completed and expressed the hope that the position of the OSCE members will be presented clearly and unambiguously in it.
He said that lists of opposition groups and terrorist groups should be drawn up as soon as possible, without which it is impossible to continue the process. He added that none of the Syrian opposition groups should dominate the delegation in negotiations with the government in Damascus.
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