MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to Stoltenberg, NATO will maintain military contacts and political dialogue with Russia to avoid "incidents, accidents like for instance the downing of a Russian plane over Turkey."
On November 24, 2015, a Turkish F-16 fighter shot down a Russian Su-24 bomber over Syria, which fell near the Turkish border. Ankara claimed that the aircraft violated Turkish airspace, however, both Damascus and Moscow presented proof the plane was flying over Syria.
The jet was carrying out anti-terrorist operations in Syria. The crew of the plane ejected and one of the pilots, Oleg Peshkov, was killed by ground fire, while the second pilot survived.
"Our message is that NATO will continue to protect and defend all our allies against any threats coming from any direction. At the same time, we convey a very strong message about that we don't seek confrontation with Russia, we don't want new Cold War," Stoltenberg said.
