Analysis: Russians were warned not to violate Turkish airpace
The head of NATO is calling for calm after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet, killing at least one of the two pilots. It is the first time the North Atlantic Alliance has downed a Russian or Soviet military plane since the Cold War days of the 1950s.
Russian President Putin insists the plane was in Syrian airspace, but the Turks put out a radar image which they say shows the path the plane took as it briefly entered Turkey. After 10 warnings without a response, a Turkish fighter jet shot it down.
In the video above, Scott Pelley discusses the ramifications of the shoot down with Ambassador Nick Burns. Burns is a career American diplomat, former National Security Council Director for Russian affairs and former U.S. Representative to NATO. He now teaches diplomacy at Harvard.
"Every nation has a right to protect its own borders," said Burns. "It was a gross violation of international law for the Russians to even fly close to that border, but to cross it? That's a red line that can't be crossed," he continued.
Ambassador Burns also said deescalation the situation is important in order to continue the united fight against ISIS.