In light of the escalation of Turkey-Russia relations the first statements were made in Washington, where French president, and Barack Obama are meeting.

Obama said tha Turkey had the right to defend its territory and air space. He says the downing of the Russian warplane by Turkey points to an “ongoing problem” with Russia’s airstrikes in Syria. If Russia would instead concentrate its airstrikes on the Islamic State group, he said, then mistakes would be “less likely to occur.”