Russia has announced that it will suspend visa-free travel with Turkey as the row over the downing of a Russian warplane escalated.

Moscow will halt the existing visa-free regime from January 1, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said.

He added that Turkey has become a conduit for terrorists and has been reluctant to share information about people accused of involvement in terrorist activities.

The move comes amid a bitter spat between Moscow and Ankara over the incident, which happened on Tuesday.

Russia has since restricted tourist travel, left Turkish trucks stranded at the border, confiscated large quantities of Turkish food imports and started preparing a raft of broader economic sanctions.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan refused to apologise for the plane's downing, which Ankara said came after it flew for 17 seconds into Turkish airspace.

Mr Erdogan said he has tried in vain to speak by phone to Mr Putin to discuss the situation and expressed hope they could meet at the sidelines of a climate summit in Paris next Monday.

He said: "There is a summit in Paris, I believe he (Putin) will also attend. We could sit and talk there.

"I would like to meet (Putin) face to face in Paris. I would like to bring the issue to a reasonable point. We are disturbed that the issue has been escalated."

Mr Putin's foreign affairs adviser said that the Kremlin had received Mr Erdogan's request for a meeting, but would not say whether such a meeting is possible.

Asked why Mr Putin has not picked up the phone to respond to Mr Erdogan's two phone calls, the adviser said that "we have seen that the Turkish side hasn't been ready to offer an elementary apology over the plane incident".

The Turkish foreign minister earlier said Turkey wants to overcome the tensions with Moscow through "diplomacy".

Speaking during a visit to Azerbaijan, Mevlut Cavusoglu urged Russia to help deflate tensions through "level headed statements and acts", the Anadolu news agency reported.

He said: "We don't favour tensions. We believe we can overcome this problem through diplomacy. We expect the same understanding from our friend and neighbour Russia."