Ahead of today's talks between French President Hollande and his Russian counterpart Putin in Moscow, Russia's Foreign Ministry reports that French Ambassador to Russia Jean-Maurice Ripert has met with Deputy Foreign Minister for Anti-Terrorism Matters Oleg Syromolotov in Moscow to discuss "Russian-French cooperation in countering terrorist threats in the context of the war against IS and combating terror financing."
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he thinks Turkey's leadership is "deliberately" pushing bilateral relations to a dead end.
Speaking in Moscow on November 26, Putin said Moscow was waiting for an apology and an offer of compensation from Turkey after a Turkish Air Force jet shot down a Russian warplane along the Turkey-Syria border on November 24. A Russian pilot died in the incident.
Putin added that he expected Ankara to "punish the criminals for this crime."
The Russian president also said that the emergence of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group was a result of "the passivity of some countries and often [their] direct complicity in terrorism."
He said that he hoped a "real, broad international coalition" will be formed into a "coordinated, powerful force" that will "support the actions of the Russian military conducting successful operations against terrorist groups and structures in Syria." (TASS, Interfax, Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin says there has as yet been "no clear apology" from Turkey over the downing of a Russian Su-24 jet on November 24.
"What happened two days ago in the skies over Syria goes against reason and international law. The plane was downed in Syrian territory. Thus far we did not hear either a clear apology from the highest political echelons in Syria, or proposals for reparations or damages or promises to punish the perpatrators for committing a crime," Putin was quoted as saying by the pro-Kremlin RIA Novosti.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has accused Russia of targeting "moderate opposition" forces in Syria, though Moscow "sees the danger" of IS.
Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov has told reporters he is not aware of measures to impose sanctions against Turkey, in the wake of an announcement this morning that Russia will impose controls over Turkish imports.
The controls did not amount to an embargo on Turkish products, Peskov said.
However, Peskov did say that the controls were necessary in the light of "increasing dangers of various manifestations of extremism."
"Naturally,more stringent measures of control will be taken. This is completely natural, all the more so in conditions of the unpredictable actions in the case of the Turkish republic," Peskov added.
Peskov then stated the obvious: that Russia-Turkey relations have suffered a serious blow after the downing of the Su-24 jet on November 24.
"Of course, fixing this quite devastating damage that has been caused to bilateral relations is very difficult, very hard. It is too serious an event with very serious, unavoidable consequences," Putin's spokesman said.
More on British Prime Minister David Cameron's case for Britain extending air strikes against IS in Syria.
The Huffington Post has tweeted this list explaining the UK government's proposed strategy in Syria.
Russia's S-400 anti-aircraft system has been deployed in Syria, the pro-Kremlin news site RIA Novosti says, citing one of its own correspondents.
The S-400 have been deployed in Russia's Hmeymim air base in Latakia province, the report says.
The aim of the anti-aircraft system, according to RIA Novosti, is to "guarantee the security of Russian pilots in Syria and destroy any targets that represent a threat to them."
The IS group, which Russia says it is striking in Syria, does not have aircraft. The deployment of the S-400 comes in the wake of the downing by Turkey on November 24 of a Russian Su-24 jet. Moscow insists that the jet did not violate Turkish air space and was shot down while in Syria, while Turkey insists that the jet entered its air space and was warned.
Analyst Charles Lister has noted some interesting points from this memo from the UK Prime Minister's Office to the UK's Foreign Affairs Select Committee today, presented as British Prime Minister David Cameron pushes for Britain to extend air strikes against IS to Syria.
One of the most eye-opening revelations in the report is that half of the 800 UK nationals identified as having travelled to Syria since 2011 have returned home.
The memo makes the case for air strikes against IS in Syria as one part of a strategy to defeat the group:
Military action is only one element of what is needed to defeat this appalling terrorist death cult. But it is a vital element: ISIL is not a threat that can be negotiated away. This is as true in Syria as it is in Iraq.
The memo also warns against allying with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against IS -- a move that Assad's ally Russia has pushed.
Some have argued that we should ally ourselves with Assad and his regime against the greater threat posed by ISIL, as the ‘lesser of two evils’. But this misunderstands the causes of the problem; and would make matters worse. By inflicting brutal attacks against his own people, Assad has in fact acted as one of ISIL’s greatest recruiting sergeants. We therefore need a political transition in Syria to a government that the international community can work with against ISIL, as we already do with the Government of Iraq
One of the issues that French President Hollande is expected to discuss with his Russian counterpart Putin in Moscow later today is his proposal to close the Syria-Turkey border -- which continues to be the main transit point for foreign militants entering Syria to join IS as well as for IS militants to leave Syria en route to Europe.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Russia supports the proposal, the Russian media reported yesterday, ahead of today's meeting between Putin and Hollande.
"I think that this is a correct proposal. I think that tomorrow, President Hollande will talk to us in more detail about that. We would be prepared to seriously discuss the necessary measures for that. Many people say that by closing that border, in essence we will be closing, thwarting the terrorist threat in Syria," Lavrov said.