Putin - operations of Israeli air force breach Syria's sovereignty

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a joint news conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia September 18, 2018. Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via REUTERS

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday that Israel's air force was conducting operations in breach of Syria's sovereignty, the Kremlin said in a statement.

Putin said that a Russian military plane had been shot down by Syrian anti-aircraft systems near Syria's coast because Russian-Israeli agreements on the prevention of dangerous incidents were not observed. He also asked the Israeli side to avoid such situations in future, it said.