NATO deliberates next move after Turkey downs Russian jet
Russian President Putin says Turkish fighter jets shooting a Russian fighter out of the sky yesterday was "a stab in the back by the accomplices of terrorists." Today, we look at the implications of NATO's steadfast support of Turkey and Russia's growing indignation.
The world awoke yesterday to some very ominous sounding news. For the first time in half-a-century, a Russian jet had been shot down by a NATO country.
And for many, it immediately brought to mind Cold War era tensions and fears of where this could all be going.
The U.S. President, Barack Obama, was soon in front of the cameras to call for de-escalation, but also to stand firm with his NATO ally, Turkey.
Turkey like every country has the right to defend its territory and it's airspace... If [Russia's] priority is attacking the moderate opposition that might be future members of a Syrian government, Russia is not going to get the support of us or a range of other members of the coalition.- U.S. President Barack Obama
To discuss how should NATO should respond and what the implications of Turkey downing a Russian military jet, we were joined by two guests.
- Keir Giles is an associate fellow of the Russia and Eurasia Program at Chatham House and the director of the Conflict Studies Research Centre. He was in Cambridge, England.
- Shashank Joshi is a Senior Research Fellow of the Royal United Services Institute in London, England.
This segment was produced by The Current's Sujata Berry, Ing Wong-Ward, Shannon Higgins and Josh Flear.