Barzan Sadiq of the Kurdistan24 news site has posted these pictures that claim to show Turkish troops withdrawing from north of the IS-controlled city of Mosul in Iraq.
Will Putin Give Kerry The Cold Shoulder In Moscow Tomorrow?
The Kremlin has "not ruled out" a meeting between Russian President Putin and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said this morning.
Kerry was expected to meet both Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov in Moscow tomorrow, December 15, for talks on Syria.
But now it is not clear whether Putin will meet Kerry or whether he will give the U.S. Secretary of State the cold shoulder in Moscow, in which case Kerry will meet only with Lavrov.
While Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov spoke this morning about a "positive dynamic" around the resolution of the Syrian conflict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that it was "not yet possible to talk about a positive dynamic" regarding efforts to bring Russia's and the United States' positions on Syria closer.
"Work on rapprochment is ongoing, you know, contacts are being made, but to date, to talk about some sort of convergence of positions isn't possible," Peskov said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that he sees a "postiive dynamic" in resolving the Syrian crisis, Russian media is reporting this morning.
"You all know about the initiative of President Vladimir Putin, which he has put forward at the General Assembly of the UN about the creation of a single counterterrorism front. We are committed to this line and are not only stating this, but we are persistently promoting meetings with our partners," RIA Novosti quoted Lavrov as saying.
"An example of this, in my view, is the positive dynamic around resolving the Syrian conflict, when it managed to gather all players around one table. This is really a great success."
Two men from the Swedish town of Gothenburg have been sentenced to life in prison after a court ruled that graphic video evidence showed them taking part in the beheading of two other people in Syria.
The chief prosecutor told the court that the beheading videos proved that the two men, aged 30 and 32, were present when the murders were committed and that they belonged to a terror group.
Neither of the men held the knife in the videos but the court found that they had intended to kill and intimidate others.
The older man had held the legs of one of the victims ana had given the go ahead to kill the men on the outskirts of Aleppo, the prosecution argued.
Neither of the men have been named.
TASS has more on Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov's comments to reporters this morning regarding the announcement by Egypt that a preliminary report into the downing of a Russian passenger jet had found no signs of terrorism.
Peskov said that the Kremlin could not comment on the report, TASS said.
TASS also noted that the head of Russia's Federal Security Services (FSB) had said that the downing of the plane was a terrorist act.
Ayman al-Muqaddam, the head of the investigation committee into the crash of the Russian passenger plane over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, has said that the committee has studied information on the pilots, the technical condition and previous flight routes of the plane, RIA Novosti reports.
Egyptian officials said they filed a preliminary report this morning that found no signs that a bomb caused the tragedy.
The IS group claimed responsibility for downing the Russian plane, saying it had planted a bomb on board.
Russia's ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, has said Ankara's efforts to calm tensions following its downing of a Russian fighter jet would not bear any fruit unless Turkey apologizes for shooting down the jet, punishes those who are responsible, and agrees to pay damages, Today's Zaman reports.
“Unless these expectations of ours are met, other statements made by Turkey [to appease the tension] will not yield any results,” Karlov told the Cumhuriyet daily today.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has also said that Russia is supporting the Free Syrian Army against IS.
"Indeed, there are some forces of this Free Syrian Army, they are participating in offensives against IS and other extremist groups. These offensives are also supported by the Russian armed forces," Peskov told reporters in response to questions about comments made by Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov this morning.
The Kremlin has given an initial response to Egypt's announcement this morning that its preliminary report into the Russian passenger plane crash that killed all 224 people on board had not found any signs of terrorism.
"The only thing [I can say] is to note the conclusion of our experts from our respective intelligence services, who concluded that this was a terrorist act," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters this morning.
The IS group claimed responsibility for the October 31 crash of the Russian flight A321 over Egypt's Sinai peninsula, saying that it had placed a bomb on board.