Kremlin senator claims 'NATO secret services' behind Karlov assassination

Senior senator Frantz Klintsevich, deputy chairman of the upper chamber of the Russian Parliament's defense and security committee, has claimed that NATO is responsible for the shooting of Russian ambassador Andrei Karlov.

“It is highly likely that representatives of foreign NATO secret services are behind it. What has happened is a true provocation, a challenge. It is a challenge for Russia," said Klintsevich.

Off-duty police officer Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş opened fire on Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov at an art gallery in Ankara, where Karlov was delivering a speech.

The attack, referred to as “a terrorist act" by the Russian Foreign Ministry, has received international condemnation.

Klintsevich's sentiment in linking Western governments to the assassination was supported by other Russian politicians.

Leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, also attributed the attack to the West, saying the shooting was “a false flag operation by the West."

Russia's President Putin is calling the attack a “provocation" intended to hurt Turkish-Russian ties.

The attack on Russian Ambassador Karlov's life came on the eve of the trilateral meeting between Turkey, Russia and Iran to be held on December 20, in Moscow, concerning the Syrian conflict.