Just when you thought things had cooled a bit between Russia and Turkey (after Turkey recklessly downed one of the former Soviet Union’s fighter jets a few weeks ago) here comes another sling from Vladimir Putin and his navy, courtesy of their own “Defence Ministry”, who reported the news on Sunday.

This from NPR:

A Russian destroyer in the Aegean Sea fired warning shots at a Turkish fishing ship that got too close on Sunday, the Russian Defence Ministry said.

From Bloomberg:

“Russia’s Smetliviy patrol boat, which was anchored, issued visual warnings and tried without success to reach the Turkish ship by radio when it came within 1,000 meters, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said Sunday in a statement. When the vessel didn’t respond and closed to within 600 meters, the Russian warship fired, prompting the Turkish boat to change course, the ministry said.

“Turkey’s military attache at the embassy in Moscow has been ‘urgently’ summoned over the incident, the Defense Ministry said.”

From CBS News:

“Earlier this month, Turkey complained to Russia after a Russian sailor was allegedly photographed holding a rocket launcher as his ship passed through Istanbul.

“Turkey and Russia originally found themselves at odds over the Syria conflict, with Ankara backing the U.S. coalition seeking to oust President Bashar Assad, and Moscow continuing its long tradition of supporting the Assad regime.”

Lest we not forget Putin’s possibly slanderous comments about Turkey’s leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, when he accused the president and his family of benefitting from a secret oil deal between the nation — a member of NATO, mind you — and ISIS (Islamic State, ISIL, IS, Daesh, etc.). 

The Kremlin recently cancelled a meeting with Erdogan and Turkey scheduled for Tuesday, and the mercurial Russian president, according to Monday’s reports, still isn’t taking the Turkish leader’s phone calls.