US contradicts Putin on sharing downed jet's flight info

WASHINGTON

A U.S. defense official has contradicted Russian President Vladimir Putin's claim that Moscow shared the flight route of the warplane shot down by Turkey on Tuesday.

"The US-led coalition, which includes Turkey, was aware of the time and place where our planes would operate. And this is exactly where and when we were attacked," Putin was quoted as saying by state-run news agency Sputnik.

Putin accused the U.S. of passing the flight information of the downed jet to its allies, which eventually led to the incident.

The Pentagon knocked down Putin’s claim as the debate over the downed SU-24 continues.

"The Russians do not share their flight plans with the U.S.," a Pentagon official told Anadolu Agency via e-mail on the condition of anonymity.

The Turkish government, on the day of incident, said that its F-16s shot down the Russian SU-24 after several warnings against its violation of Turkish airspace over the southern province of Hatay.

One of the pilots of the SU-24 died in the incident while the other was rescued by Russian special operations forces in Syria.

One of the rescuing Russian commandos was killed as a result of an opposition group's attack on the Russian rescue helicopter.

Turkish military released recording of the radio warning broadcast by the F-16 pilot to the Russian jet, which was also confirmed by a U.S.-led coalition spokesman on Tuesday.

The U.S.-led coalition has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Russia to ensure safe separation of aircraft and de-confliction over Syria.

But U.S. officials have constantly expressed that the coalition and the Russians are not coordinating or cooperating operations in Syria.

Under the memorandum, Russian and coalition aircraft only communicate for identification and safe passage.