"We're greatly concerned about it because it is precisely the kind of thing that had Turkey responded under its rights could have resulted in a shoot-down," he said, at a public event in Chile.
Kerry said he had talked with Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu and had consulted senior colleagues and would push Russia to communicate more clearly about its operations.
"It is precisely the kind of thing that we warned against," he said, referring to the Pentagon's attempts to set up a so-called "de-confliction" mechanism with Russian commanders.
"Those conversations are even more intense now and we will see very quickly if this can be defused," he added.
