A Downing Street spokesperson said:

The Prime Minister called President Putin this morning to express his condolences following the Russian plane crash in Egypt.

The Prime Minister said how sorry he was about this terrible tragedy and that Britain shared the pain and grief of the Russian people.

The Prime Minister added that Britain stood ready to help if there was anything we could do to establish the reasons behind the crash. The President welcomed this offer, noting that Russian experts were already in Sinai working with the Egyptians and that analysis of the black box would be the next step.

President Putin thanked the Prime Minister for the call and they both said they looked forward to seeing each other at the G20 in Turkey later this month.