The United States has independently confirmed Turkey’s assertion that the Russian warplane it shot down last week violated Turkish airspace, a State Department official said Monday.
Spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau would not describe how the United States confirmed the Russian craft’s flight path. Instead, she said that diplomatic efforts should focus on easing tensions between Russia and Turkey.
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Turkish forces shot down the plane on Nov. 24, saying it entered its airspace from Syria, where Russia is conducting airstrikes in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad. One of the plane’s pilots was killed, as well as a Russian Marine on the rescue team.
Russia has said it was flying over Syria airspace and was struck unprovoked.
This article first appeared at NBCNews.com
Andrea Mitchell
Andrea Mitchell is chief Washington correspondent and chief foreign affairs correspondent for NBC News.
Cydney Weiner