Moscow has announced a package of economic sanctions against Turkey over the Russian warplane downing on the Syrian border on November 24.
The decree signed by President Vladimir Putin covers imports from Turkey, the work of Turkish companies in Russia and any Turkish nationals working for Russian companies.
It also calls for an end to charter flights between Russia and Turkey.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has refused to apologize to Russia.
On November 27, Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Moscow of “playing with fire” in its Syria operations. However, on November 28, the Turkish said he was “saddened” by the downing of the Russian fighter jet.
Turkey and Russia have important economic links. Russia is Turkey’s second-largest trading partner, while more than three million Russian tourists visited Turkey in 2014.
Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on November 28 that there were close to 90,000 Turkish nationals working in Russia. Taking family members into account, that figure rises to 200,000, he said.
The decree also urges Russian tour operators to refrain from selling packages to Turkey, while Turkey’s Foreign Ministry has warned its citizens against non-essential travel to Russia “until the situation becomes clear”.
On November 27, Russia suspended its visa-free arrangement with Turkey.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has asked for a meeting with Vladimir Putin, who wants an apology from Turkey before he will agree to talks.
Turkey says the Russian plane had intruded into its airspace and ignored warnings to leave.
Moscow maintains that its SU-24 fighter jet was downed by a missile fired from a Turkish jet inside Syria.
Vladimir Putin has also firmly rejected any suggestion Turkey did not recognize the plane as Russian. He said it was easily identifiable and its co-ordinates had been passed on to Turkey’s ally, the US.
Russia has sent troops and aircraft to Syria to back up the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad in the civil war.
Turkey, which is a member of NATO and of a US-led coalition in the region, insists Bashar al-Assad must step down before any political solution to the Syrian conflict is found.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he is “saddened” by the downing of a Russian warplane by Turkish forces on the Syrian border on November 24.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he wished the incident had not happened and hoped it would not happen again.
The Turkish president has so far refused to apologize to Russia, accusing Moscow of “playing with fire” in its Syria operations.
His remarks came as Turkey warned its citizens against non-essential travel to Russia.
The Foreign Ministry said visits should be avoided “until the situation becomes clear”, citing problems such as anti-Turkish demonstrations outside Turkey’s embassy in Moscow.
On November 27, Russia suspended its visa-free arrangement with Turkey and is planning to introduce a wide range of economic sanctions.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has asked for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but Vladimir Putin wants an apology from Turkey before he will agree to talks.
The Turkish president again defended the incident and criticized Russia’s operations in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad, whom Ankara opposes.
He renewed his call for a meeting with Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Paris Climate talks next week, saying that both sides should approach the issue more positively.
“We wish it hadn’t happened, but it happened,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, quoted by the Associated Press.
“I hope something like this doesn’t happen again.”
Russia has sent troops and aircraft to Syria to back up the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad in the civil war.
Turkey, which is a member of NATO and of a US-led coalition in the region, insists Bashar al-Assad must step down before any political solution to the Syrian conflict is found.
Both countries say they are trying to rid the region of ISIS, which claimed the recent attacks on Paris, Ankara and also on a Russian airliner.
On November 27, Russia said it had strengthened its anti-aircraft defenses by moving a cruiser towards the coast and deploying new missiles at its main base.
The Moskva cruiser’s long-range air defense system will provide cover for Russian aircraft, as will the S-400 missiles which arrived on November 26.
Turkey says the Russian combat jet had intruded into its airspace and ignored warnings to leave.
Moscow maintains that the downed SU-24 fighter jet was downed by a missile fired from a Turkish jet inside Syria.
Vladimir Putin has also firmly rejected any suggestion Turkey did not recognize the plane as Russian. He said it was easily identifiable and its co-ordinates had been passed on to Turkey’s ally, the US.
On November 26, Russia on said it was drafting a wide-ranging list of economic sanctions against Turkey that would hit food imports and joint investment projects among other things.
Turkey and Russia have important economic links. Russia is Turkey’s second-largest trading partner, while more than three million Russian tourists visited Turkey in 2014.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s latest statement on the downing of the plane came in an address to supporters in Balikesir, western Turkey, following the murder of a senior Kurdish lawyer, Tahir Elci, in the south-eastern city of Diyarbakir on November 28.
Tahir Elci was shot dead by an unknown gunman as he called for an end to violence between Turkey and the Kurdish rebel PKK group, which resumed in July.
In a TV address, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned Russian President Vladimir Putin not to “play with fire” over Turkey’s downing of a Russian warplane on Syrian border.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan also said he wanted to meet Vladimir Putin “face-to-face” at climate talks in Paris to resolve the issue.
Vladimir Putin wants an apology from Turkey before he will speak to Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Russian president’s aide said.
Russia has suspended its visa-free arrangement with Turkey in the latest of a range of retaliatory measures.
Turkey says the Russian warplane was in its airspace when the decision was taken to shoot it down on November 24 – Russia insists the plane was flying over Syria at the time.
Tensions have been heightened by the fact that the two countries are pursuing different aims in Syria.
Russia has been carrying out air strikes against opponents of President Bashar al-Assad since late September, while Turkey, which is a member of a US-led coalition, insists Bashar al-Assad must step down before any political solution to the crisis is found.
However, all are united in trying to rid the region of ISIS, also known as Daesh.
In a televised speech, Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Russia it was “playing with fire to attack the Syrian opposition, who have international legitimacy, under the pretext of fighting against Daesh”.
The Turkish president said Moscow was also playing with fire to use the downing of the jet “as an excuse to make unacceptable accusations against us”, and accused Russians of “mistreating” Turkish citizens who were in the country for a trade fair.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he hoped to meet Vladimir Putin face-to-face on the sidelines of the climate summit in Paris next week “to bring the issue to a reasonable point. We are disturbed that the issue has been escalated”.
While he has refused to apologize, Recep Tayyip Erdogan did say on November 26 that had Turkey known the plane was Russian, “maybe we would have warned it differently”.
Vladimir Putin has firmly rejected any suggestion Turkey did not recognize the plane as Russian. He said it was easily identifiable and its coordinates had been passed on to Turkey’s ally, the US.
A senior Russian commander went further on November 27 and claimed the Russian warplane was “ambushed” by two Turkish F-15s.
Gen. Viktor Bondarev said Russian and Syrian radar data showed the F-16s had been flying in the area for more than an hour and the plane that fired the missile did so from 1.2 miles inside Syria.
The Russian jet was shot down 3.4 miles south of the Turkish border, he said.
The Turkish military earlier in the week released audio of what it said were repeated warnings to the Russian jet to change its course, and claimed the jet had spent 17 seconds in Turkish air space before being shot down.
Announcing the suspension of a visa-free travel regime with Turkey from January 1, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he believed the Turkish leadership had “crossed the line of what is acceptable”.
On November 26, Russia said it was drafting a wide-ranging list of economic sanctions against Turkey that would hit food imports and joint investment projects among other things.
Turkey and Russia have important economic links. Russia is Turkey’s second-largest trading partner, while more than three million Russian tourists visited Turkey in 2014.
According to Russia’s ambassador to France, a Russian pilot who went missing after his warplane was shot down by Turkey was rescued by the Syrian army.
Alexander Orlov told Europe 1 radio the pilot had been taken to a Russian base. However, this report has not yet been confirmed by the authorities in Moscow.
The second pilot and a marine involved in their rescue operation were killed, Russia’s defense ministry says.
NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said it stood by member Turkey but echoed calls for calm.
He said he backed the Turks’ assessment, but added “diplomacy and de-escalation are important to resolve this situation”.
Turkey said the warplane had strayed into its airspace but Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted the Su-24 had been hit by an air-to-air missile while flying over Syrian territory.
Vladimir Putin described the downing of the plane as a “stab in the back”.
Breaking off military contacts with Turkey, Russia’s defense ministry said a cruiser equipped with an air defense system would be deployed in the Mediterranean to destroy “any targets representing a potential danger” for Russian forces in Syria.
Russian bombers carrying out air strikes over Syria will now be escorted by fighters, the military said.
Russian defense official Lt-Gen Sergey Rudskoy said the two pilots were shot at from the ground as they parachuted from their burning plane – one of them was killed.
There have been various reports about the fate of the second airman.
Sergey Rudskoy also said a rescue team using two Mi-8 helicopters had attempted to rescue the two pilots.
“During the operation, one of the helicopters came under small-arms fire, was damaged and made an emergency landing on neutral territory,” he said.
“One naval infantryman serving under contract was killed.”
Sergey Rudskoy said the rest of the rescue team were safely evacuated from the area to Russia’s Humaymim air base near Latakia in Syria.
Syrian rebels say they blew up the helicopter shortly after it landed with an anti-tank missile, releasing footage of the attack.
Russians have been advised not to visit Turkey – a popular tourist destination – with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov saying the terror threat there was no less than in Egypt, where a bomb attack brought down a Russian passenger plane last month.
One of Russia’s largest tour operators, Natali Tours, has suspended package holidays to Turkey.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his forces had been acting within their rules of engagement.
“Everyone must respect the right of Turkey to protect its borders,” he said.
The US, the EU and the UN have all appealed for calm.
President Barack Obama has assured his Turkish counterpart in a phone call of US support for his country’s right to defend its sovereignty.
Russia and Turkey have found themselves on opposing sides in Syria’s conflict, with Russia supporting its ally President Bashar al-Assad and Turkey calling for his ousting.
Vladimir Putin has bitterly condemned the downing of a Russian warplane on the Turkey-Syria border.
The Russian president described it as a “stab in the back” committed by “accomplices of terrorists”.
Turkey says its jets shot at the Russian warplane after warning that it was violating Turkish airspace. However, Moscow says it never strayed from Syrian airspace.
NATO held an extraordinary meeting at member Turkey’s request to discuss the incident.
Its Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg, has said allied assessment of the incident shows that the Russia warplane did fly into Turkish airspace.
One of the two crew members who ejected from the downed plane was killed by fire from the ground, the Russian military said. The fate of the other is unclear.
A Russian soldier was killed when the helicopter he was on came under fire during a search and rescue mission, a spokesman added.
Vladimir Putin warned there would be “serious consequences” for Moscow’s relations with Turkey.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said he was canceling his visit to Turkey, where he was due on November 25, over the incident.
Photo Getty Images
He also advised Russians not to visit Turkey and said the threat of terrorism there was no less than in Egypt, where a bomb attack brought down a Russian passenger plane last month.
Vladimir Putin said the Su-24 was hit by an air-to-air missile fired by a Turkish F-16 while it was flying over Syrian territory.
He said the plane had been attacked “at a height of 6,000 meters [20,000ft], 1km from the border”.
It crashed into Syrian territory 2.5 miles from the border, he added.
The plane flew over a small piece of Turkey that projects into Syria that would have taken the jet only a few moments to fly over, correspondents say.
The two crew members ejected as their burning aircraft plunged into a Syrian hillside.
Video footage has shown what appears to be the dead body of one of the flyers, surrounded by armed rebels.
Another piece of video, obtained by a Turkish news network, has shown the pilots being shot at from the ground by unidentified rebels.
An act of terror brought down the Russian A321 airliner in Egypt last month, killing all 224 people on board, says Russia’s security chief Alexander Bortnikov.
“Traces of foreign explosives” were found on debris from the Airbus plane, FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov told Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Vladimir Putin vowed to “find and punish” those behind the attack over the Sinai peninsula. A branch of ISIS said it downed the plane.
Nearly all the dead were Russians.
Alexander Bortnikov said a bomb had been planted on board the Metrojet plane, equivalent to up to 1kg of TNT. The Kremlin website carried a transcript of the meeting.
The bomb shattered the plane mid-air on October 31, he said, “which explains the wide dispersal of fuselage pieces”.
Vladimir Putin said that Russia must hunt those responsible “indefinitely, find out who the individuals were”.
“We’ll look for them everywhere, wherever they are hiding. We’ll find them in any corner of the planet and punish them.”
Russia has offered a $50 million reward for information on the Sinai plane attackers.
Sinai Province, a branch of ISIS, said in a statement on October 31 that it had destroyed the plane because of Russian air strikes in Syria.
ISIS also said it was responsible for the multiple shootings and bombings in Paris on November 13 which killed 129 people and wounded hundreds more.
Most of the A321 passengers were Russian tourists flying home from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Metrojet is the brand name of Kogalymavia, an airline based in western Siberia.
Vladimir Putin said that Russia’s air strikes in Syria “must not only be continued – they must be intensified so that the criminals understand that retribution is inevitable”.
Russian warplanes are supporting Syrian government forces against various rebel groups, including ISIS and other Islamists.
Russia’s military commanders were also at the meeting with Vladimir Putin and the Federal Security Service (FSB) chief.
Vladimir Putin was speaking after separate meetings at the G20 summit in Turkey, with President Barack Obama on November 15, and UK PM David Cameron on November 16.
The Syrian conflict was the focus of their talks.
The Sinai Province militants have operated in northern Sinai for two years, attacking Egyptian security forces, hundreds of whom have died in the violence.
Speaking during a joint session of both houses of parliament President Francois Hollande has said that France is committed to “destroying” ISIS after last week’s deadly attacks.
Francois Holland said he would table a bill to extend the state of emergency declared after the attacks for three months and would suggest changes to the constitution.
France’s military campaign against ISIS in Iraq and Syria will also intensify.
ISIS says it carried out the attacks on bars, restaurants, the Bataclan concert hall and Stade de France in which 129 people died.
Francois Hollande said the constitution needed to be amended as “we need an appropriate tool we can use without having to resort to the state of emergency”.
He said he would travel to meet Presidents Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin in the coming days to discuss action against the group.
US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Paris on November 16 to show support for “America’s oldest friend” against what he called “psychopathic monsters”.
At a G20 summit in Turkey, world leaders promised tighter co-operation in the wake of the attacks.
Barack Obama said the US and France had made a new agreement on intelligence sharing but said US military advisers thought sending ground troops to combat ISIS would be a mistake.
In his address, Francois Hollande reiterated his opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad remaining in power but said “our enemy in Syria is Daesh [ISIS]”.
He promised more resources for the security forces and said the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier would be sent on November 19 to bolster the military campaign against ISIS.
On November 15, French aircraft attacked Raqqa, ISIS stronghold in Syria. French officials said 10 jets had dropped 20 guided bombs targeting sites including a command centre, a recruitment centre for jihadists, a munitions depot and a training camp.
ISIS has issued a statement saying the raid targeted empty locations and that there were no casualties.
Vladimir Putin has ordered an investigation into claims Russia’s athletes have been part of a systematic doping program.
The Russian president was speaking for the first time since a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) independent report recommended Russia be banned from athletics competition.
Vladimir Putin said athletes should be punished individually, rather than collectively.
“Sportsmen who don’t dope – and never have – must not answer for those who break the rules,” he said.
“If we find that someone must be held responsible for something of the sort that breaks the rules in place against doping, then the responsibility must be personalized – that’s the rule.”
Vladimir Putin also said he wanted “professional co-operation” with anti-doping bodies.
“The battle must be open,” he said.
“A sporting contest is only interesting when it is honest.”
Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko had earlier said the UK’s anti-doping system had “zero value” and was “even worse” than Russia’s.
That accusation was rejected by the UK’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Vladimir Putin spoke only about the issues affecting Russia, saying someone must take responsibility should problems be found.
“I ask the minister of sport and all our colleagues who are linked in one way or another with sport to pay this issue the greatest possible attention,” he said, before a meeting sports officials in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
Photo AP
“It is essential that we conduct our own internal investigation and – I want to underline – provide the most open professional co-operation with international anti-doping structures.”
Sebastian Coe, president of athletics’ governing body, the IAAF, has told the Russian athletics federation to respond to WADA’s report by November 13.
The report’s author, Dick Pound, recommended Russian athletes be suspended from the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
However, International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach said on November 11 his organization had “no authority” to take such action, and the matter was solely for the IAAF to deal with.
Thomas Bach also said the IOC would continue to apply a zero-tolerance policy to doping, and that Olympic medals would be withdrawn from any Russian athlete named in the WADA report who is found guilty of doping.
Vladimir Putin’s former aide Mikhail Lesin has been found dead in a hotel in Washington DC, Russian state media say.
Mikhail Lesin, 57, Russia’s former press minister and a one-time head of the powerful Gazprom-Media Holding group, died on November 5, the RIA-Novosti and Tass news agencies report.
Russian media, quoting Mikhail Lesin’s family, said he suffered a heart attack.
According to the Washington Post, Mikhail Lesin’s body was found in a room at the Dupont Circle hotel.
Police are investigating the Russian’s death.
In 2014, Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker called for an investigation into Mikhail Lesin, saying his fortune “raises serious questions”.
In a letter to the US Department of Justice, Senator Roger Wicker said Mikhail Lesin bought a $28 million property in Los Angeles for his family after finishing work as a civil servant.
Roger Wicker asked how a former civil servant would have been able to buy and maintain expensive property, and expressed concern their purchase may have involved people and groups on a US sanctions list.
Mikhail Lesin was for a long time considered one of the most influential figures in the Russian media market and in the corridors of power.
He worked as an aide to the Russian presidency between 2004 and 2009, when he helped advise on the creation of the news channel Russia Today.
President Vladimir Putin hailed “the enormous contribution made by Mikhail Lesin to the formation of modern Russian media”, according to Tass.
In 2014, Mikhail Lesin was accused of trying to force a radio station in which he was a shareholder to cut an interview with opposition figure Alexei Navalny.
Roger Wicker’s letter said Mikhail Lesin “led the Kremlin’s effort to censor Russia’s independent television outlets”.
Mikhail Lesin, who resigned from Gazprom-Media in 2014, leaves a wife, son and daughter, the Ria-Novosti agency said.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has made a surprise visit to Moscow on his first overseas trip since the civil war broke out in his country in 2011, state TV says.
During his visit, Bashar al-Assad held talks with President Vladimir Putin.
Russia launched air strikes in Syria last month against the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) and other militant groups battling Bashar al-Assad’s forces.
Bashar al-Assad said Russia’s involvement had stopped the spread of “terrorism” becoming “more widespread and harmful”.
For his part, President Vladimir Putin said the Syrian people had been “almost alone… resisting, fighting international terrorism for several years”.
“They had suffered serious losses, but recently have been achieving serious results in this fight,” he said.
Photo AFP
The visit happened on October 20, but was not announced until October 21 – after Bashar al-Assad had returned to Damascus.
In comments that were videoed and published by the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin thanked Bashar al-Assad for coming despite the “dramatic situation” back home.
Vladimir Putin said Moscow had joined the fight against “international terrorism”, not just to help the Syrian people, but to better protect Russians too.
He said some 4,000 people from the former Soviet Union were believed to be fighting in Syria right now.
“We cannot permit them – once they get fighting experience there and ideological training – to turn up here in Russia,” he said.
Bashar al-Assad thanked Russia for “standing up for the unity of Syria and its independence”, and said its intervention had “prevented the events in Syria from developing along a more tragic scenario”.
Both presidents spoke of the need for a political solution to the crisis.
Vladimir Putin said Russia stood “ready to contribute” to any political process that could bring about a peaceful resolution.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has defended his country’s military operations in Syria, saying the aim is to “stabilize the legitimate authority” of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Vladimir Putin told Russian state TV Rossiya-1 Moscow also wanted to “create conditions for a political compromise” in Syria.
The Kremlin leader denied that Russian air strikes were hitting moderate opposition groups rather than Islamic State militants.
Syrian forces are said to have made significant advances against rebels.
Government gains in Idlib, Hama and Latakia provinces were on October 11 reported both by Damascus and opposition activists.
Photo Kremlin.ru
The main battlefront is currently close to the key highway that links the capital with other major cities, including Aleppo, and Bashar al-Assad’s forces are believed to be seeking to cut off rebels in Idlib.
In the interview with Rossiya-1 broadcast on October 11, Vladimir Putin said Russia’s aim was to “stabilize” the government in Damascus.
He stressed that without Moscow’s support for Bashar al-Assad there was a danger that “terrorist groups” could overrun Syria.
Bashar al-Assad’s government was currently “under siege”, Vladimir Putin said, adding that militants were “at the edge of Damascus”.
The Russian president also urged other nations to “unite efforts against this evil [terrorism]”.
The US-led coalition – which has been carrying out its own air strikes in Syria – earlier said it would not be co-operating with Russia.
Russia, which began its strikes in Syria on September 30, said on October 11 its aircraft carried out more than 60 missions in the past 24 hours, and that ISIS was its main target.
Russia and US military will hold talks “as soon as possible” to avoid clashing in Syria, the countries’ top diplomats say.
Russian defense officials say their aircraft carried out about 20 missions against the so-called Islamic State group (ISIS) on September 30.
However, the US expressed fears the targets were non-ISIS opponents of Russia’s ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The US is targeting ISIS with air strikes in both Syria and Iraq.
NATO said there had been little co-ordination by Russia with US-led forces against ISIS, also known as Isil. The US says it was informed of Wednesday’s air strikes only an hour before they took place.
The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal report that US-backed rebels were targeted by Russia.
Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, said there was a need to “establish channels of communication to avoid any unintended incidents”. His US counterpart, John Kerry, said talks will be held “as soon as possible,” maybe as early as October 1.
John Kerry added: “It’s one thing to be targeting Isil, but the concern, obviously, is that this is not what was happening.”
France’s Defense Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, told French lawmakers: “Curiously, they didn’t hit Islamic State. I will let you draw a certain number of conclusions yourselves.”
Syria’s civil war has raged for four years, with an array of armed groups fighting to overthrow the government.
The US and its allies have insisted that President Bashar al-Assad should leave office, while Russia has backed him remaining in power.
The Russian defense ministry said the country’s air force had targeted ISIS military equipment, communication facilities, arms depots, ammunition and fuel supplies – and did not hit civilian infrastructure or areas nearby.
Syrian opposition activists said Russian warplanes hit towns including Zafaraneh, Rastan and Talbiseh, resulting in the deaths of at least 36 civilians, a number of them children.
None of the areas targeted was controlled by ISIS, activists said.
In a TV address, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the air strikes were targeting Islamist militants – including Russian citizens – who have taken over large parts of Syria and Iraq.
“If they [militants] succeed in Syria, they will return to their home country, and they will come to Russia, too,” he said.
He added that Russia would be “supporting the Syrian army purely in its legitimate fight with terrorist groups”.
Vladimir Putin also said he expected President Bashar al-Assad to talk with the Syrian opposition about a political settlement, but clarified that he was referring to what he described as “healthy” opposition groups.
Russia has conducted the first airstrikes in Syria against opponents of President Bashar al-Assad.
The strikes reportedly hit rebel-controlled areas of Homs and Hama provinces, causing casualties.
The US says it was informed an hour before they took place.
Russian defense officials say aircraft targeted the Islamic State (ISIS) group, but an unnamed US official told Reuters that so far they did not appear to be targeting ISIS-held territory.
Syria’s civil war has raged for four years, with an array of armed groups fighting to overthrow the government.
The US and its allies have insisted that President Bashar al-Assad should leave office, while Russia has backed its ally remaining in power.
Photo CNN
The upper house of the Russian parliament granted President Vladimir Putin permission to deploy the Russian air force in Syria.
The Russian defense ministry said the country’s air force had targeted ISIS military equipment, communication facilities, arms depots, ammunition and fuel supplies.
A Syrian opposition activist network, the Local Co-ordination Committees, said Russian warplanes hit five towns – Zafaraneh, Rastan, Talbiseh, Makarmia and Ghanto – resulting in the deaths of 36 people, including five children.
None of the areas targeted were controlled by ISIS, activists said.
In a TV address, President Vladimir Putin said the air strikes were targeting Islamist militants – including Russian citizens – who have taken over large parts of Syria and Iraq.
“If they [militants] succeed in Syria, they will return to their home country, and they will come to Russia, too,” he said.
Vladimir Putin added that Russia was not going to send ground troops to Syria, and that its role in Syrian army operations would be limited.
“We certainly are not going to plunge head-on into this conflict… we will be supporting the Syrian army purely in its legitimate fight with terrorist groups.”
Vladimir Putin also said he expected President Bashar al-Assad to talk with the Syrian opposition about a political settlement, but clarified that he was referring to what he described as “healthy” opposition groups.
A US defense official said: “A Russian official in Baghdad this morning informed US embassy personnel that Russian military aircraft would begin flying anti-ISIL [ISIS] missions today over Syria. He further requested that US aircraft avoid Syrian airspace during these missions.”
State department spokesman John Kirby told reporters: “The US-led coalition will continue to fly missions over Iraq and Syria as planned and in support of our international mission to degrade and destroy ISIL [ISIS].”
President Vladimir Putin says Russia is considering whether to follow the US and its allies in conducting air strikes against Islamic State (ISIS) targets.
The Russian president spoke after meeting President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly (UNGA).
However, the meeting, and the two presidents’ speeches at the UNGA, also highlighted splits about how to end the Syrian war.
Russia said it would be an “enormous mistake” not to work with Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad to tackle ISIS.
On September 28, the US and France again insisted that Bashar al-Assad must go.
Photo Getty Images
In response, Vladimir Putin said: “They aren’t citizens of Syria and so should not be involved in choosing the leadership of another country.”
Russia would conduct air strikes only if they were approved by the United Nations, Vladimir Putin said, while also ruling out Russian troops taking part in a ground operation in Syria.
Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin met for 90 minutes on the sidelines of the UNGA in talks that the Russian president called “very constructive, business-like and frank”.
It was Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin’s first face-to-face meeting in almost a year, with the Ukraine war also on the agenda.
A senior US government official said neither president was “seeking to score points” in the talks. Both sides agreed to open lines of communication to avoid accidental military conflict in the region, the official added.
In his speech to the UNGA, President Barack Obama said compromise among powers would be essential to ending the Syrian conflict, which has claimed more than 200,000 lives and forced four million people to flee abroad.
“The US is prepared to work with any nation, including Russia and Iran, to resolve the conflict,” he said.
“But we must recognize that there cannot be, after so much bloodshed, so much carnage, a return to the pre-war status quo.”
Vladimir Putin said it was an “enormous mistake to refuse to co-operate with the Syrian government and its armed forces who are valiantly fighting terrorism face-to-face”.
He also called for the creation of a “broad anti-terror coalition” to fight ISIS, comparing it to the international forces that fought against Nazi Germany in World War Two.
Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin have long differed on Syria: the US opposes President Assad remaining in power, while Russia has been a staunch ally of the regime in Damascus and has recently stepped up military support.
Some Western leaders have recently softened their stance towards Bashar al-Assad, conceding that he might be able to stay in power during a political transition.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is to hold rare talks with President Barack Obama to outline his proposals on the Syrian conflict which is at the centre of intense diplomatic activity in New York, where world leaders are attending the UN General Assembly.
The Russians are a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Western leaders have recently softened their stance towards him – conceding that he might be able to stay on during a political transition.
In his opening remarks at the summit, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for the situation in Syria to be referred to the International Criminal Court, saying there can be no impunity for “atrocious crimes”.
Ban Ki-moon said five countries – Russia, the US, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran – were key to finding a political solution, but unless they could compromise it would be “futile” to expect change on the ground.
Earlier, Moscow suggested there were plans to form an international contact group including all the countries Ban Ki-moon mentioned plus Egypt.
The morning session at the UN is hearing from Presidents Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin, as well as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and French President Francois Hollande, whose country has just carried out its first air strikes against Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Syria.
The threat of ISIS extremists and the flow of Syrian refugees to Europe has added urgency to the search for a deal to end the civil war.
Vladimir Putin has reiterated his support for Bashar al-Assad, who Western countries and the Syrian opposition have said must go.
The Russian president, who has strongly reinforced Russia’s military presence in Syria, has called for a regional “coordinating structure” against ISIS, and said the Syrian president’s troops were “the only legitimate conventional army there”.
Vladimir Putin said Russia would not participate in any troop operations in Syria.
Relations between Russia and the West have been strained over Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula last year and its support for separatist rebels in Ukraine’s east.
Vladimir Putin will also meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Cuban President Raul Castro on the sidelines of the assembly, the Kremlin was quoted as saying by Reuters.
President Hassan Rouhani – a key regional ally of Bashar al-Assad – says the government in Damascus “can’t be weakened” if ISIS militants are to be defeated.
Secretary of State John Kerry, however, said the efforts were “not yet coordinate” and the US had “concerns about how we are going to go forward”.
Russian oligarch Sergei Pugachev has announced he filed a $12 billion compensation claim against the Russian state.
In the claim at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, the tycoon once known as Putin’s banker said Russia had carved up his empire after he fell out with President Vladimir Putin.
Russia accuses Sergei Pugachev, 52, of embezzling millions of dollars.
An Interpol arrest warrant has been issued for him at Moscow’s request.
Sergei Pugachev denies the charges.
The tycoon – who once estimated his business empire was worth $15 billion – announced his move against Russia on September 22 in Paris.
Photo Getty Images
Sergei Pugachev told Reuters that Vladimir Putin’s allies had “expropriated my assets” following the 2008 global financial crisis and then pursued him in courts on charges of embezzlement and asset misappropriation.
He also said that he had feared for his life after falling out with Vladimir Putin.
Sergei Pugachev – the founder of Mezhprombank – said his case resembled that of Yukos, Russia’s now defunct oil producer giant.
In 2014, The Hague court ruled that Russia should pay $50 billion in damages to former Yukos shareholders. It said Russian officials had manipulated the legal system to bankrupt Yukos and jailed its boss Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
Russia said it would appeal against the ruling.
Meanwhile in Russia, a court in May ordered Sergei Pugachev’s arrest on embezzlement charges. The oligarch is accused of knowingly bankrupting his own bank.
Sergei Pugachev left Russia in 2011 and since then has been living in Britain and France.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not commented on Sergei Pugachev’s compensation claim in The Hague court.
However, Dmitry Peskov said investigations in Russia against Sergei Pugachev had nothing to do with the tycoon’s relations with President Vladimir Putin.
“If I am not mistaken, Pugachev is on a wanted list, after all, and, of course, the investigative and search work… has nothing to do with friendly or unfriendly relations,” Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s Ekho Moskvy radio station
“Therefore, here I would absolutely not mix these two issues,” he added.
The head of a Crimean winery is to be prosecuted in Ukraine for allegedly opening a 240-year-old bottle for Russian President Vladimir Putin and former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi.
Vladimir Putin and Silvio Berlusconi spent last weekend in Crimea touring ancient ruins.
Prosecutors say they drank at Crimea’s renowned Massandra winery.
Massandra was Ukrainian government property before Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March 2014.
Any charges could not currently be pursued in Crimea, where Russia has full control.
Russian media cited by Radio Free Europe reported that Silvio Berlusconi asked if he could sample the wine during a tour of Massandra.
A witness said Massandra’s new pro-Russian director Yanina Pavlenko in response uncorked a precious bottle of 1775 Jeres de la Frontera for her prestigious guests. The Spanish wine was brought to Crimea by Count Mikhail Vorontsov, during the reign of Catherine the Great.
Russian television last week showed Silvio Berlusconi carefully surveying dust-covered bottles of wine while Vladimir Putin listened to Yanina Pavlenko as she gave them the tour.
Later, Silvio Berlusconi is seen looking at a bottle identified to be from the vintage of 1891, and asked in English: “Is it possible to drink?”
Yanina Pavlenko replied: “Yes.”
It is unclear what happened to that bottle, but Ukrainian prosecutors say the bottle they are concentrating on was worth more than $90,000. They say they are preparing embezzlement charges against Yanina Pavlenko.
“This is one of the five bottles that constitute not only Massandra’s or Crimea’s heritage, but the heritage of all Ukrainian people,” Nazar Kholodnytsky, first deputy prosecutor for Crimea told the Associated Press in Kiev.
He said two bottles similar to the one allegedly consumed were auctioned in London in 2001 and one fetched nearly $49,700 (€44,000).
“The funds went to the state coffers and supported the development of Massandra and wine-making in Crimea,” Nazar Kholodnytsky said.
Yanina Pavlenko’s predecessor as governor, Nikolay Boyko, was dismissed in February after Russian prosecutors filed fraud charges against him.
The new governor is herself wanted in Ukraine for treason after she voted in favor of Russian annexation in 2014.
“Now she’s added one more crime to high treason,” Nazar Kholodnytsky said.
Prince Lev Golitsyn started the first winery in Crimea in 1894, and since then its wines have been celebrated in the Soviet Union and Russia. The Massandra wine cellars hold about 500,000 bottles, including 5 bottles of the 1775 Jeres de la Frontera.
Vladimir Putin and Silvio Berlusconi enjoyed good personal relations when the Italian leader was in power, which they have maintained since he left office in 2011.
President Vladimir Putin did not have a phone conversation with Elton John, who has said he wants to talk to him about gay rights, the Kremlin says.
Elton John had said he wanted to talk to Vladimir Putin about his “ridiculous” stance.
Later, a message on Elton John’s Instagram account thanked Vladimir Putin for “reaching out” in a phone conversation.
However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said no conversation between Elton John and the Russian president had taken place – and hinted that the call could have been a hoax.
Elton John’s Instagram message added: “I look forward to meeting with you face to face to discuss LGBT equality in Russia.”
The pop star’s office said that the two men had spoken.
But Dmitry Peskov told reporters that reports of a conversation were “not true”.
“I don’t know who spoke to Elton John but President Putin did not speak to him,” he said.
“I don’t know [what happened] but President Putin did not speak to Elton John and most importantly we didn’t receive any proposals to meet.”
Dmitry Peskov added: “If the president does get such a signal from Elton John, the president has always been open to discuss any… human rights problems, any issues. He is always ready to clarify the real situation.”
Russia has faced international criticism for its homophobic laws.
A report by Human Rights Watch in 2014 said Russia was failing to prevent and prosecute homophobic violence amid a rise in attacks against minorities.
During a recent interview, Elton John admitted he thought it was unlikely he would meet President Vladimir Putin.
“It’s probably pie in the sky. He may laugh behind my back when he shuts the door, and call me an absolute idiot, but at least I can think I have the conscience to say I tried.”
Ex-Russian internet “troll” Lyudmila Savchuk has been awarded one ruble ($0.01) in damages after she sued her former employer to expose it as a propaganda “factory”.
Lyudmila Savchuk says she and hundreds of colleagues at Internet Research in St Petersburg flooded websites with pro-Putin commentary.
A Russian court ordered Internet Research to pay Lyudmila Savchuk symbolic damages.
An agency representative said it did market research and he was not aware of “trolling” activities, reports say.
Photo Facebook
Lyudmila Savchuk, 34, sued the secretive company for alleged moral damages, non-payment of wages and for failing to give workers proper contracts.
The freelance journalist said she worked for the company for two months for a salary of about 40,000 rubles ($400) a month, but was fired in March after speaking to the media about her employer.
Petrogradsky district court on August 17 set the damages at one ruble following an agreement between the parties.
Lyudmila Savchuk said she was happy with the result because she had succeeded in exposing the work of Russia’s internet “trolls”.
Russian media quoted a spokesman for Internet Research denying the accusations.
The Kremlin says it has no links to Internet Research’s operations.
Since leaving the agency, Lyudmila Savchuk has been organizing a public movement against online trolling.
Over the past year, Russia has seen an unprecedented rise in the activity of bloggers allegedly paid by the Russian state to criticize the West on social media over the conflict in eastern Ukraine and post favorable comments about President Vladimir Putin.
Former Pussy Riot member Nadya Tolokonnikova and another activist were arrested in Moscow on June 12 after staging a brief street performance to support women prisoners.
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Katya Nenasheva were posing dressed as prisoners while attempting to sew a Russian flag before being dragged away.
Both were released after three hours.
Nadya Tolokonnikova spent 21 months in jail after a Pussy Riot protest against Vladimir Putin in a Moscow cathedral.
The human rights campaigner staged her new protest on Russia’s national day.
Photo Facebook
While under arrest on June 12, Nadya Tolokonnikova posted messages on Facebook saying she wanted to draw attention to the struggles of female prisoners, both while incarcerated and once released.
Russian media reports said Nadya Tolokonnikova and Katya Nenasheva had been detained for holding an “unsanctioned rally” in Moscow’s Bolotnaya Square – the site of mass anti-government protests that began in 2011.
Since being released last year, Nadya Tolokonnikova has focused on campaigning around the world against President Vladimir Putin.
She was jailed along with fellow Pussy Riot members, Maria Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich, in August 2012 after being convicted of hooliganism.
They were among five members of the activist group to stage a “punk prayer” in Moscow’s biggest cathedral.
The act was seen as blasphemous by many Russians, and was condemned by the Orthodox Church.
Yekaterina Samutsevich was freed on probation in October 2012, but Nadya Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina remained in jail until their release in December 2013.
In February 2014, members of Pussy Riot signed an open letter insisting that Maria Alyokhina and Nadya Tolokonnikova should no longer be described as part of the punk rock collective.
Pussy Riot said the pair had forgotten about the “aspirations and ideals of our group” and were wrong to appear at an Amnesty International concert in New York.
Vladimir Putin has dismissed the idea that Russia could attack NATO as “insane”.
In an interview with Italy’s Corriere della Sera, President Vladimir Putin says Russia is not a threat to NATO.
The Russian president told the publication: “Only an insane person and only in a dream can imagine that Russia would suddenly attack NATO.”
The Western alliance is bolstering its military presence in its eastern European members in response to their fears of Russian threat, following its involvement in the Ukraine conflict.
NATO says that Russia is backing rebels in Ukraine – a claim denied by Moscow.
Photo Kremlin.ru
Three Baltic countries are preparing to ask for a permanent presence of NATO troops on their soil to act as a deterrent to the Russian military.
Six NATO bases are being set up and a 5,000-strong “spearhead” force established.
In his interview with the Italian publication, Vladimir Putin said some countries were “simply taking advantage of people’s fears with regard to Russia” in order to receive “some supplementary military, economic, financial or some other aid”.
“There is no need to fear Russia,” he said.
“The world has changed so drastically that people with some common sense cannot even imagine such a large-scale military conflict today. We have other things to think about, I assure you.”
Heavy fighting has erupted in Ukraine this week, focusing on the towns of Maryinka and Krasnohorivka, west of rebel-held Donetsk.
The opposing sides have accused each other of shattering February’s Minsk ceasefire, requiring them to withdraw heavy weapons from the frontline.
Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko told a news conference on June 5 that Russia had massed troops on the border and in rebel-held areas “in unprecedented numbers” – but Russia again denied that its military was involved in Ukraine.
Petro Poroshenko said Ukraine has deployed 50,000 troops in the conflict zone to meet the threat.
More than 6,400 people have been killed in eastern Ukraine since the conflict began in April 2014, when rebels seized large parts of two eastern regions, following Russia’s annexation of the Crimea peninsula.
The Ukraine crisis is on the agenda of talks of leaders of the most industrialized group of countries – the G7 – beginning on June 7, without Russia – usually its eight member.
President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill which allows foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to be banned from operating in Russia.
The new law allows the Russian authorities to prosecute foreign NGOs or companies designated as “undesirable” on national security grounds.
Individuals working for NGOs could face fines or up to six years in prison.
Critics say it is a Kremlin move aimed at stifling dissent.
The definition of “undesirable” is open to interpretation, but the Interfax news agency said it would apply to organizations deemed to pose a threat to the “foundations of Russia’s constitutional order, defensive capacity and security”.
Organizations linked to politics in Russia already face restrictions under a 2012 law requiring them to register as “foreign agents”.
The new bill’s supporters say it is essential to prevent Russia from outside interference, amid ongoing tensions due to the country’s involvement in Ukraine.
There was concern from Western governments and NGOs about the implications.
The US State Separtment said it was “deeply troubled” by the law.
State Department’s spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement: “We are concerned this new power will further restrict the work of civil society in Russia and is a further example of the Russian government’s growing crackdown on independent voices and intentional steps to isolate the Russian people from the world.”
Amnesty International said the bill would “squeeze the life” from civil society, while Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned it would be locals who would be worst-hit.
Vladimir Putin has played hockey at a gala match with retired NHL players in Sochi.
The Russian president scored eight goals – with a little help from Pavel Bure and Valeri Kamensky – and his team won 18-6.
PM Dmitry Medvedev was among audience.
Vladimir Putin, 62, better known for his love of judo, only recently took up hockey and clearly enjoyed himself.
The president’s performance on skates drew jokes on social media.
The Sochi match, held to celebrate 70 years since Victory in World War Two, coincided with Russia’s national hockey team winning the semi-final in the ice hockey world championship against the US 4-0.
In March, questions were raised about the health of Vladimir Putin, who plunged the world into uncertainty last year by annexing Crimea from Ukraine, when he disappeared from public view for 10 days before re-emerging without explanation.
Secretary of State John Kerry flies to Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin during his first visit to the country since the beginning of Ukraine in early 2014.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the visit a “positive step” and said the Russian president was prepared for “extensive” discussions at the meeting in Sochi.
Jonh Kerry will also meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
The West accuses Russia of arming rebels in eastern Ukraine and sending troops there – charges Moscow denies.
More than 6,000 people have been killed since fighting began in April 2014 between Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed rebels in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
The conflict followed Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula in southern Ukraine.
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said John Kerry’s trip was “part of our ongoing effort to maintain direct lines of communication with senior Russian officials and to ensure US views are clearly conveyed”.
Dmitry Peskov praised John Kerry’s decision to travel to Russia, adding: “We are always open to showing a political will for a broader dialogue.
“Through dialogue, it is possible to look for paths to a certain normalization, to a closer co-ordination in decisions.”
Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said Russia was prepared to discuss international “hot spots” as well as bilateral relations, and that the issue of Western sanctions against Russia would not be raised by the Russian side.
Earlier, Russia’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement blaming the US for provoking the Ukraine crisis and attempting to “isolate Russia” while demanding its allies follow suit.
John Kerry’s visit comes two days after German Chancellor Angela Merkel attended a wreath-laying ceremony in Moscow to commemorate the Russians killed during World War Two.
At a joint news conference with Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel said the annexation of Crimea had caused “a serious setback in our relations”.
Angela Merkel and other Western leaders boycotted a military parade in Red Square on May 9.
Russia is marking 70 years of victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two with a huge military parade in Moscow.
Thousands of troops are marching on Red Square in Moscow, and new armor being displayed for the first time.
More than 20 heads of states are in Moscow, but many world leaders are boycotting the event because of Russia’s role in the Ukraine crisis.
As the event began, Russian President Vladimir Putin said international co-operation had been put at risk in recent years.
Russia denies claims by the West that it is arming rebels in eastern Ukraine. More than 6,000 people have been killed since fighting began in April 2014 in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
In his speech, Vladimir Putin paid tribute to the sacrifices of Soviet troops during World War Two. He also thanked “the people of Great Britain, France and the United States for their contribution to victory”.
Vladimir Putin also said: “In recent decades the basic principles of international co-operation have been ignored ever more frequently. We see how a military-bloc mentality is gaining momentum.”
The remarks echo previous complaints by Vladimir Putin about what he says are efforts by the US and its NATO allies to encircle Russia militarily.
The victory parade started at 10:00 local time. Chinese President Xi Jinping, President Pranab Mukherjee of India and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon are among more than 20 world leaders watching the event.
Military units from across Russia – some dressed in WWII-era uniforms – are marching, and more than 100 aircraft have flown over Red Square.
The most talked-about new high-tech Russian armor is the T-14 Armata battle tank, which has a remote-controlled gun turret and reinforced capsule for the crew.
The RS-24 Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles – each capable of delivering three nuclear warheads – were also on show.
In a sign of closer ties between Russia and China, a column of Chinese troops marched in Moscow for the first time.
Military parades on a smaller scale are also being held in other cities, including Sevastopol in Crimea – Ukraine’s southern peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014 – as well as the Ukrainian rebel-held cities of Donetsk and Luhansk.
The US, Australia, Canada and most of the EU heads of state are boycotting the celebrations in Russia over its alleged involvement in the Ukraine crisis.
On May 8, Poland organized an alternative event for those leaders who refused to go to Moscow.
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