Sergey Glazyev, an adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, stressed the need to rebuild trust between Russia and Turkey after Turkey shot down a Russian aircraft at the end of last year, saying the incident had caused trust to collapse.
In an interview with Syrian journalist Basel al-Haj Jassem published on Al Arabiya’s website, Glazyev said it was difficult to say where events in Syria were heading and that an understanding had to be reached to resolve the crisis.
Asked about the economic sanctions Moscow imposed on Ankara after the aircraft was shot down, Glazyev said that “economic sanctions are a tool of confrontation that destroys the foundations of any cooperation,” according to Al Arabiya.
He added: “At the same time, economic sanctions remain preferable to military action. In our case, the Russian leadership sent a message to the Turkish leadership that aggressive conduct against the Russian peacekeeping force in the Middle East is considered a threat to Russian national security. I believe this response was not equivalent to what Turkey did, but it is better than political-military conflict because it keeps the conflict within the economic sphere.”
On the incident’s effect on Syria, he said: “An understanding must be found, and trust in one another must be restored. The aircraft incident caused trust to collapse and greatly complicated efforts to find a shared strategy needed to resolve the Syrian crisis.” Glazyev added that it had become difficult to determine where events in Syria were heading.
Two Turkish F-16 fighters shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 warplane on November 24, 2015, after it violated Turkish airspace near the Syrian border in the southern province of Hatay. Under internationally recognized rules of engagement, the two fighters issued 10 warnings to the Russian aircraft within 5 minutes before shooting it down. NATO confirmed the information published by Ankara about the airspace violation.