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Turkey's Downing of Jet a 'Planned Provocation': Russia's Lavrov

Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov pledged to reassess its relations with Ankara after the incident.
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MOSCOW — Russia's foreign minister called the shooting down of one of its warplanes a planned provocation Wednesday but said Moscow was not going to declare war over the incident.

Sergey Lavrov said Russia has "serious doubts" that Turkey's downing of the plane was "an unplanned act."

"It looks like pre-planned action," Lavrov said in remarks carried on Russian television.

Lavrov warned that Moscow would reassess its relations with Ankara after the incident but said the Kremlin had no intention "to go to war with Turkey."

"Our attitude to the Turkish people hasn't changed," he said. "We have questions about the actions of the current Turkish leadership."

In wake of the incident Lavrov has spoken to his Iranian counterpart and fellow ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, according to Russia's Foreign Ministry.

It said in a statement that Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif had "expressed his condolences" over the crash and "signaled support for Russia's efforts to fight terrorism in the region."

On Tuesday, Turkey shot down the warplane it said had strayed onto its territory. The incident — which prompted a furious reaction from President Vladimir Putin — threatened to scupper international efforts to defeat ISIS and find a diplomatic solution to the Syrian civil war.

However, there were signs that Turkey was attempting to prevent the situation from boiling over. Turkey's Foreign Ministry issued a statement late Tuesday saying "we have no intentions whatsoever to escalate the situation. Our contacts with the Russian authorities are ongoing to this end."

And on Wednesday, Turkey's Foreign Ministry said Russian and Turkish ministers had agreed to hold meetings on the incident, The Associated Press reported.

The Kremlin has confirmed that one of the Russian pilots who ejected from the jet shot down by Turkey was "alive and well" after a 12-hour rescue behind enemy lines. The warplane crashed in an area controlled by militants trying to overthrow Assad.