Contents tagged with Syrian Conflict

  • Russia and Turkey to pursue joint effort to drive al-Nusra Front from Aleppo

    Russia and Turkey have agreed to pursue joint actions to drive the al-Nusra Front, also known as al-Qaeda in Syria, from the Syrian city of Aleppo, as stated by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, RIA Novosti reported.

    “Yesterday, I spoke with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin. We discussed Aleppo. He said that bombing has ceased there for 22 hours. He expressed the wish that ‘al-Nusra’ would be ejected from the city. We have given the necessary instructions to colleagues and started to …

  • Putin, Merkel, and Hollande to discuss Syria after Normandy format meeting

    After today’s Normandy format meeting between the leaders of Russia, Germany, France, and Ukraine to discuss the situation in the Donbas, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and French President François Hollande will discuss the war in Syria, RIA Novosti reported.

    According to Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, “Today the president [Putin] will travel to Berlin on a working meeting… of the Normandy format, which will include Putin, Hollande, Merkel, and Poroshenko… …

  • EU demands Syrian war crimes be brought before ICC

    At the EU Council meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the EU member countries the EU representatives have reached the conclusion that Syrian troops and the Russian Aerospace Forces are responsible for targeted airstrikes on schools, hospitals and other social facilities in Aleppo.

    The EU condemned these actions in the Syrian city in a joint statement issued at the meeting.

    The statement said that hospitals and schools have become the targets of airstrikes. The EU went on to say …

  • Russian Foreign Ministry: Moscow will respond to U.S. sanctions

    The possibility of U.S. sanctions against Russia due to the situation in Syria will not go without a response. The response may be symmetrical, the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, Sergei Ryabkov, told reporters. "Any hostile actions against Russia will not be left without a response," Ryabkov said, as quoted by Interfax.

    Ryabkov also said that "at different stages of the current sanctions policy (against Russia) Moscow has repeatedly warned that they will be answered though …

  • Shoygu: Russia and Syria are halting airstrikes on Aleppo for now

    Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu announced that the Russian and Syrian air forces have halted all strikes on Aleppo two days ahead of a planned humanitarian pause to allow civilians and rebels to evacuate the war-torn city, RIA Novosti reported.

    According to Shoygu, special humanitarian corridors have been set up to facilitate the evacuation.

    "We call on the leadership of countries that have influence over armed groups in eastern Aleppo to convince their leaders to stop military action …

  • The United States and Britain threaten the Kremlin with new sanctions

    The foreign ministers of the United States and Britain, John Kerry and Boris Johnson, said their countries are considering imposing new economic sanctions against the Russian Federation and the Syrian government, DW reports.

    In particular, punitive measures should be taken in response to the events in Aleppo, where hundreds of civilians were killed as a result of air strikes by the Syrian and Russian militaries.

    Kerry and Johnson expressed hope in the effectiveness of diplomatic tools to …

  • Hollande questions whether a meeting with Putin would be useful

    In an interview on French television, the president of France, François Hollande, stated that he asks himself a question whether it is necessary to meet with Putin in person on October 19, because he questions its usefulness.

    “I’ve asked myself, ‘would it be useful? Is it necessary or it will be a pressure? Can we guarantee that we will change what he [Putin] is doing with the Syrian regime, namely, supporting Syrian air forces that are bombing civilians in Aleppo?’” Hollande stated in an …

  • Russia is ready to establish a no-fly zone in Syria

    S-300 surface-to-air missile defense systems, which were sent to Syria by Russia, are from the Russian Army air defense, a source close to Russian military-diplomatic circles told Izvestia newspaper.

    “These defense systems are related to the army air defense and are designed primarily for the destruction of aero-ballistic targets and cruise missiles,” the source noted.

    According to another source, Russia intended to provide Syrians with several dozens of armored vehicles, which had been …

  • Russia has prepared a response to the US' 'plan B' in Syria

    An increase of firepower support for Bashar al-Assad’s Army may be Russia's response to the United States’ "Plan B" for Syria. Izvestia newspaper published the details with reference to the Deputy Chairman of the Defense and Security Committee of the Russian Federation Council, Frantz Klintsevich.

    "The General Staff also has special plans to combat terrorists, as they will pay more attention to our units and bases in Syria than to the Syrian Armed Forces,” Klintsevich said.

    A high-ranking …

  • British politician says Russia shouldn't be allowed to host World Cup

    The former Deputy Prime Minister of Great Britain, Nick Clegg, believes that Russia should forfeit the right to host the 2018 World Cup.

    “It might be a silly thing. It is ludicrous that Russia is going to hold the World Cup in 2018. What world are we in? That they basically abuse people’s human rights on that scale, barbarism in Aleppo, and we will prepare to play football in Moscow in 2018? I think if FIFA had any moral mettle to it at all, it will now say that Russia has forfeited any right …