This just in from Daily Sabah.
Western Calls For Assad To Go As Part Of Fight Against IS 'Unconstructive' - Lavrov
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that it is "unconstructive" for Western countries to link the fight against the IS group with a desire that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad step down.
"Right now we are seeing a reluctance to fight a common evil until Assad goes, we don't see any pragmatic approach here, here there's a great deal of ideology," Lavrov told a press conference.
Lavrov said there had been many situations in which people had become "fixated" on the idea that removing one man could fix matters.
"Saddam Hussein, Muamar Gaddafi, and by the way, [former Ukrainian President Viktor] Yanukovych. Look at what happened in all these countries, where the international community said, remove this man because of corruption, dictorship, and these countries will flourish afterward. We hope that we will learn from this experience and, like I already said, we have to make a choice -- like we did when the coalition against IS was formed," Lavrov said.
A new propaganda video by the IS group features footage of Rome, Il Foglio reporter Daniele Raineri says.
From our news desk:
Putin Vows 'Very Tough' Action On Syria Threats
President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian military to "act in a very tough way" against any threat to its forces in Syria.
Putin told defense officials in Moscow December 11 that Russian forces in Syria should "immediately destroy" such targets.
Last month, the Turkish military downed a Russian bomber on the Syrian border, triggering a bitter row between Moscow and Ankara.
Turkey says the bomber entered its airspace, which Russia denies.
Without naming Turkey, Putin warned against "further provocations."
The Russian president also said the military was now supporting Free Syrian Army forces, which are fighting President Bashar al-Assad.
Moscow has been accused of targeting the moderate Syrian opposition, rather than the Islamic State group.
Putin said it was important to develop cooperation "with all states that have a real interest in destroying the terrorists."
Finland has said that it will boost its involvement in a training mission in Iraq and a UN-led mission in Lebanon to help relieve French forces in the aftermath of the Paris attacks last month by the IS group.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has said that there are some problems still to be solved in a pact made between Syrian opposition forces yesterday if peace talks with the Syrian government are to be resumed next week.
Kerry said that there are "some questions and obviously a couple of, in our judgement, kinks to be worked out."
Two-thirds of Russians support the ban on Turkish fruit and vegetable imports, saying the sanctions are a "punishment" for Turkey for its downing of a Russian Su-24 jet near the Syrian border, Interfax reports.
One of the Paris attackers was a French Army reject, Reuters reports.
Foued Mohamed-Aggad was rejected by the French Army and possibly also by the police before joining the IS group.
Army recruiters in Strasbourg turned Mohamed-Aggad down after conducting physical and psychological tests.
Journalist Khaled Abu Toameh highlights one of the more colorful exchanges around this week's conference of Syrian opposition groups in Riyadh, between Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir and Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi.
Jubeir said on December 10 that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had two choices: either to stand down or be forcibly removed.
Zoubi in Damascus reacted furiously to Jubeir's comments, calling them a "farce."
"You are too insignificant to talk about matters related to the Syrian people and Syrian state, I advise you to take care of issues your own size," Zoubi said.