Turkey, Russia approaching Security Council for jet shooting investigation is optimistic sign: Bishop

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said that it was good to hear that Turkey and Russia have approached the United Nations Security Council for the investigation of a Russian war plane being shot down by Turkey.

Bishop also stated that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu have spoken to each other and they are due to meet in the coming days in the wake of the latest fighter plane crisis. This signified that both the countries are not in a state of war this time and desire to deescalate tensions between them.

“We are not going to wage a war on Turkey,” Lavrov told reporters, but he still advocated the attack as a “planned provocation.”

Bishop said that the meeting of the foreign ministers will definitely lead to some consequences. Despite making significant claims against each other, the countries are showing some optimistic signs of avoiding escalation of warfare. “Their actions indicate that they realise what’s at stake and that this could so easily escalate out of control,” Bishop told Sky News on Thursday.

The Australian foreign minister said that there are claims and counterclaims from both the countries, which need to be tested. “I hope that having referred it to the (U.N.) Security Council both parties will now take the time to investigate this properly,” she told Seven Network.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, on the other hand, said that relation with Turkey and its NATO allies have been negatively affected after Turkey’s attack on the Russian jet plane on Tuesday. The deteriorating diplomatic understanding between Ankara and Moscow also seems to hamper France’s effort to align with Russia in the U.S.-led coalition fighting against the Islamic State.

Turkey and Russia share bitter relation as Turkey, its NATO allies and the U.S. want Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down, while Russia supports the president.

Meanwhile, Putin vowed to protect its forces in Syria from any kind of threat, whereas Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged to defend its borders from unwanted entrants.

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