Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, left, shakes hands with Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdoğan

Moscow:(IANS) Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday condemned Turkey for its “recklessly criminal actions” of downing a Russian warplane on Tuesday.

“This damage will be difficult to repair — its direct consequence may be the cessation of a number of important joint projects and the loss by Turkish companies of their positions on the Russian market,” Tass news agency quoted Medvedev as saying.

Russia’s foreign ministry said Turkey’s downing of the warplane was a “deliberate action”.

“It’s neither a mistake nor accident, but a deliberate action that has never happened before,” a spokesperson of the ministry told a press conference.

The incident would not affect Russian efforts made to push forward the peaceful settlement of Syrian crisis, the spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday called the downing “a stab in the back delivered by accomplices of the terrorists”.

A Russian Su-24 fighter jet was shot down on Tuesday by Turkey near the Turkish-Syria border.

Turkey claimed responsibility, saying the warplane had violated Turkish airspace and the move was “within engagement rules”.

Russia insisted the plane was in Syrian airspace on a mission to strike at the Islamic State targets.