President Barack Obama on Tuesday said Turkey has a right to defend its airspace after the U.S. ally shot down a Russian warplane flying over its territory, sparking a furious response from Moscow and a diplomatic scramble to prevent the incident from escalating hostilities in the already tense region.

While acknowledging that the details are still unfolding, Obama said the incident pointed to the greater issue with the Russian military activity in Syria. He declined to elaborate on details, including saying whether the U.S. knew definitively that the plane had violated Turkish airspace.

"My top priority is going to be to ensure that this does not escalate," Obama said.

His remarks came during a joint news conference with French President Francois Hollande, who was in the United States before a planned meeting Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Hollande is seeking to build consensus on a unified strategy for fighting the Islamic State group in Syria after the extremist group's deadly terror attack in Paris. Those efforts looked to be severely compromised by Tuesday's events, and Hollande appeared sanguine on the possibility of keeping the fragile coalition focused on the extremists.

"This is what we must do, all of us – we, Turkey, Russia," Hollande said.

A visibly angry Putin, meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah II, called Turkey's downing of the plane a "blow in the back by accomplices of terrorists."

Turkey contends the plane violated its airspace over a small strip of southern Turkey that juts into Syria and that it did not retreat across the border despite a series of 10 warnings over five minutes. Russia says the plane remained in Syrian airspace, where Russia flies at the invitation of Syrian President Bashar Assad. According to Putin, the plane was 1 kilometer from the Turkish border and "never threatened the territory of Turkey." The fate of the two pilots, who were seen on video footage parachuting out of the plane after it was struck, is unknown.

The prospect of the military conflict escalating, either intentionally or unintentionally, due to the participation of nations with often conflicting priorities in the region has long been feared. The U.S. appeared eager to distance itself from the confrontation, despite the fact that Turkey is a member of the NATO alliance and sought a meeting with member countries almost immediately after the incident.

U.S. Army Col. Steve Warren, spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group, said the U.S. was tracking the Russian aircraft before the incident and heard Turkish air controllers repeatedly challenge the Russian jet, and that the Russian pilot did not comply. But Warren also said that, due to the terrain at the border, it can be difficult to determine on which side the incident took place. He made clear the incident was between the Turkish and Russian governments and that U.S. operations would continue in the area.

Putin, meanwhile, accused Turkey of shooting down the plane to benefit from oil revenues. He broadly claimed that the Islamic State group is profiting from black-market oil in Turkey.

"Today's tragic event will have serious consequences including for Russia's relationship with Turkey," Putin said. "[I]nstead of contacting us immediately, as far as we know the Turkish side first turned to their partners in NATO to discuss this incident. As if we had downed a Turkish plane [when it was] they who shot down one of ours."





NATO held an emergency meeting in Brussels as the incident Tuesday marks the first time since 1953 a NATO country shot down a Russian aircraft. The alliance confirmed that the plane crossed into Turkey's territory, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the organization stands in solidarity with Turkey in supporting its territorial integrity. He didn't announce any steps on behalf of the organization, but said he looks "forward to further contacts between Ankara and Moscow." Stoltenberg said diplomacy was the best way to resolve the situation, indicating the military alliance was not eager to insert itself into the dispute.

The head of the European Union, President Donald Tusk, said " all should remain cool headed and calm."

The incident comes at a tense moment in the Middle East, as the web of players in Syria becomes increasingly tangled. Russia entered the air campaign in September on behalf of Assad and has largely focused on rebels seeking the Syrian dictator's ouster. The U.S. is leading a 65-nation coalition conducting airstrikes in Syria against the Islamic State group, also known as ISIL or ISIS or regionally as Daesh, but it does not coordinate militarily with Russia. The two countries signed an agreement last month aiming to prevent mishaps in the air over the combat zone, but the U.S. has continues its criticism of Russia's involvement and its motivations in the conflict.

"I do think that this points to an ongoing problem with the Russian operations in the sense that they are operating very close to a Turkish border and they are going after moderate opposition that are supported by not only Turkey but a wide range of countries," Obama said Tuesday. "If Russia is directing its energies towards Daesh and ISIL, some of those conflicts or potentials for mistakes or escalation are less likely to occur."

Hollande reiterated that Russia is welcome in the international coalition fighting the Islamic State group. The French president said he hopes to elicit more cooperation from Russia when he visits Moscow. All parties urged the Russians and the Turks to discuss their differences rather than exacerbate the situation, but it was not immediately clear whether those calls would be heeded.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was scheduled to visit Ankara on Wednesday but has cancelled the trip.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu maintained that Turkey has the right to defend its territory. The country had complained several times since the start of the Russian air campaign that Russian planes were violating its airspace.

"We would like the entire world to know that we will take all necessary measures and make any sacrifices when it comes to the lives and dignity of our citizens and for the security of our borders while our country is in a circle of fire," Davutoglu said.