United States President Barack Obama on Tuesday urged Turkey and Russia to de-escalate their conflict over the downing of a Russian warplane a week ago. Obama asked the two countries to instead focus on resolving the long-running civil war in Syria and defeating the Islamic State, calling the militant group the common enemy, reported Associated Press. In a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Obama vouched for the Nato member's right to self-defence and pledged a solid commitment the country’s security and sovereignty.

Relations between Turkey and Russia have turned into a diplomatic crisis since the Turkish military shot down a Russian jet along the Syrian border on November 24, accusing it of violating its airspace. Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that the plane was shot down to protect the oil he says that Turkey is illegally importing from IS. Turkey has vehemently denied the allegation.

Russia has also imposed a host of new economic sanctions on Turkey after it refused to apologise for the incident. The spat between two countries has threatened to undermine Obama’s efforts to expand the US-led coalition against the terrorist group responsible for terror attacks across the Middle East and, most recently, in Paris.