German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Tuesday called on Moscow and Ankara to show "prudence and common sense" after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet on the Syrian border.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Tuesday called on Moscow and Ankara to show "prudence and common sense" after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet on the Syrian border.

"This could mean that we not only experience a setback, but that the glimmer of hope which we had only just achieved is being destroyed," he said, adding: "I hope that prudence and common sense prevail in both capitals."