Erdogan Says Awaiting Response From Putin to November 30 Meeting Proposal

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday he had proposed a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on November 30 on the sidelines of the Paris climate summit, but has not received an answer from Moscow yet.

"I have requested a meeting with the head of the Russian state in Paris on November 30, but have not yet received an answer," Erdogan said in an interview with France 24 television.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier on Thursday that a separate meeting between Putin and Erdogan was not on a working agenda.

Peskov noted that Ergodan's visit to Russia on December 15 had not officially been canceled, but "many questions" arose from the latest developments.

The Russian Kommersant daily cited Kremlin sources on Thursday as saying the bilateral summit in St. Petersburg had been canceled. The head of Russia's Federal Agency for International Cooperation Rossotrudnichestvo, Lyubov Glebova, said an annual Russian-Turkish Public Forum had been canceled.

Russia’s relations with Turkey suffered a setback after a Turkish Air Force fighter shot down a Russian Aerospace Forces Su-24 over Syria on Tuesday. Putin said the Russian plane was downed by an air-to-air missile launched by a Turkish F-16 jet over Syrian territory, falling 2.5 miles from the Turkish border.

He described the Turkish attack as a "stab in the back" carried out by "accomplices of terrorists."

Up to 138 state and government leaders have confirmed to take part in the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris next week. Putin is expected to address the COP21.