Turkey warns Russia not to 'play with fire'

Turkey's president has warned Vladimir Putin not to "play with fire" as their war of words continues over the downing of a jet.

President Recep Erdogan says he does not want to harm relations with Russia and hopes to meet Mr Putin "face to face" in Paris next week, Sky News reported.

But the Russian President is refusing to contact Mr Erdogan directly because Ankara does not want to apologise, a Putin aide said.

In another development, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow would suspend the visa-free regime with Turkey from the New Year.

Mr Lavrov said Turkey had "crossed the line".

Relations between the former Cold War antagonists have hit a low after Turkey shot down the jet near the Syrian border earlier this week.

Mr Erdogan warned Mr Putin about "playing with fire" in a speech in northeast Turkey, broadcast live on television.

He responded after Mr Putin dismissed as "rubbish" Turkey's claim that it would not have shot down the jet if it had known it was Russian.

Mr Putin also said that America - an ally of Turkey on Syria - had known the flight path of the downed Russian jet.

"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," Mr Putin said.

He added that Russian planes were easily identifiable and Turkey was making excuses for its actions.

"They [our planes] have identification signs and these are well visible," Mr Putin said.

Sources: MENA