Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan voiced "sadness" on Saturday over the shooting down of a Russian jet by Turkish forces, saying that he wished the incident had not happened.
However he continues to defend Turkey's actions.
"We wish it hadn't happened, but it happened.
I hope something like this doesn't happen again," Erdogan said.
The Turkish president said both sides must approach the issue in a more positive way.
Erdogan nevertheless has said he wants a direct meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin when the two leaders are in Paris next week for the UN climate summit.
So far Moscow has officially only responded coolly, saying Turkey has yet to apologize for shooting down the jet on the Syrian border.