The State Department on Monday said it has independent confirmation that the Russian plane that was shot down by Turkey did cross into Turkey’s airspace before it was shot down by Turkish fighters.
Russia has moved to impose sanctions against Turkey after the shootdown, and has said its plane was not guilty of violating Turkey’s airspace. But State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said the U.S. is siding with Turkey.
“The available information, including evidence from Turkey and our own sources, indicates the Russian aircraft violated Turkish airspace,” she told reporters Monday.
“We also know that the Turks warned the Russian pilots multiple times for the airspace violation, to which the Turks received no response,” she added. Turkey said it issued several warnings, to the Russian pilots, and that those warnings were ignored.
She stressed later that this was the conclusion of both Turkey and the independent assessment of the U.S. She said the U.S. has “our own sources.”
But when asked whether Turkey’s action was justified, Trudeau declined to answer, and said both countries need to stay in a dialogue now to ensure the situation doesn’t escalate.
“It’s important that the Russians and the Turks talk to each other,” she said.
She also declined to say whether Turkey overreacted to the violation of its airspace, and declined to comment on Russia’s economic sanctions against Turkey.
