Putin 'Not Planning to Meet Erdogan' at Paris Climate Talks

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a press conference following talks with French President Francois Hollande (not pictured) in the Kremlin, Moscow, Russia, November 26, 2015.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has no plans on meeting Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of high-level climate talks in Paris (COP21) starting today, Putin's press secretary has said.

"A meeting with Erdogan is not in planning. Such a meeting has not been in question," Russian daily Vedomosti quotes Dmitry Peskov as telling reporters.

This comes after Erdogan reiterated, in a phone conversation with his counterpart from Kazakhstan, he was willing to hold talks with Putin to discuss the incident of last week when a Russian aircraft was downed by Turkish F-16s.

A meeting with US President Barack Obama on the sidelines of COP21, on the other hand is "not ruled out," Peskov has also noted.

Russia introduced over the weekend sanctions against Turkey in response to the developments. Ankara, which says it regrets the incident, maintains its Air Force was defending national sovereignty, with the downed plane allegedly having violated Turkish airspace.

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