NATO warships are monitoring Russia’s naval flotilla as it sails along the coast of Portugal on its way to the Mediterranean Sea where it will participate in military operations in support of the Syrian government, Interfax reported.

Russia’s flotilla includes the country’s sole aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov.

One Portuguese and one Spanish ship are currently monitoring the flotilla.

Similarly, Portuguese P-3 surveillance aircraft are active in the area.

According to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, the Turkish and Russian militaries maintain an open line of communication and exchange intelligence information regarding Syria, TASS reported.

During an interview with Turkey’s 24 Canali TV, Çavuşoğlu stressed that such "cooperation is beneficial."

"We say that in the context of the Euphrates Shield Operation, we cooperate with all parties fighting against the Islamic State. Now that relations with Russia have normalized, we have an …

The Kremlin stated that leaders of the “Normandy Four” countries did not discuss the deployment of the armed OSCE mission in the uncontrolled area of the Ukrainian-Russian border; rather, Russian President Vladimir Putin just gave his “potential consent.” This was stated by the Russian president’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov.

“With regard to some armed police OSCE mission, I’d like to stress – it was only about service weapons, and in the event of such a mission, indeed, Putin responded …