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Putin: US knew of flight path of Russian jet downed by Turkey

Putin's comments come as rhetoric between Russia and Turkey heats up
President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that he had received no "articulate apologies" from Turkish leaders (AFP)

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia had given the United States the flight path of the military jet before it was downed by Turkey on the Syrian border. 

"The American side, which leads the coalition that Turkey belongs to, knew about the location and time of our planes' flights, and we were hit exactly there and at that time," Putin said at a joint press conference with French counterpart Francois Hollande in the Kremlin.

The US has not yet responded to Putin's claims.

Russia has demanded an apology from Turkey and said it would hit back with a raft of economic measures against Ankara over the shooting down of a Russian military jet on the Turkey-Syria border.

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that he had received no "articulate apologies" from Turkish leaders, "nor any proposals to compensate for the harm and damage, nor promises to punish criminals responsible for their crimes".

Putin on Thursday dismissed Turkey's claim as “rubbish” that it would not have shot down the jet if it had known it was Russian.

"They [our planes] have identification signs and these are well visible," Putin said. "Instead of [...] ensuring this never happens again, we are hearing unintelligible explanations and statements that there is nothing to apologise about."

Putin has also accused Turkey of buying oil from the Islamic State (IS) group, whose financing heavily relies on the sale of energy resources. 

Putin said there was "no doubt" that oil from "terrorist-controlled" territory in Syria was making its way across the border into Turkey. 

"We see from the sky where these vehicles [carrying oil] are going," Putin said. "They are going to Turkey day and night."

"These barrels are not only carrying oil but also the blood of our citizens because with this money terrorists buy weapons and ammunition and then organise bloody attacks," he added. 

Russia's prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, said that the Kremlin was preparing a raft of retaliatory economic measures in response "to this act of aggression in the economic and humanitarian spheres".

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