This ends our live blogging for February 24. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage.
Russia doesn't support the Assad regime, we're just defending Syrian sovereignty: Foreign Ministry spox
Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said that Moscow does not support the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but shares its objectives of fighting terror.
Zakharova's comments offer a fascinating insight into how Moscow is framing its actions in Syria and its role in the Syrian conflict. Zakharova denies that Russia is "supporting Assad" and in effect says Moscow's role in Syria is twofold: to support those parties who fight the IS group and to prevent the United States from striking Damascus and forcibly overthrowing Assad, which Zakharova defines as protecting the sovereignty of Syria.
"We don't support the Assad regime but we support it in the fight against terror, just as we support the opposition and the Kurds who are fighting against IS," Zakharova told the Argumenty i Fakty newspaper.
"We say that you cannot bypass Damascus and supply arms to illegal groups and that it is wrong to displace the regime from the outside. We have done everything so that the United States has not struck Damascus. But in the fight between Damascus and the opposition we have not engaged with any of the sides. We have defended the sovereignty of Syria and international law."
Trying to preserve or overthrow a regime from the outside is a "disastrous path," Zakharova added.
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Turkey's actions on Syria border are aggression: Russian FM spox
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has denounced Turkey's actions on the Syrian border as "aggression."
In an interview with the Russian Argumenty I Fakty newspaper, Zakharova said that Ankara was "exacerbating the situation on the Syria-Turkey border, carrying out provocations. Although this is already far from being a provocation, this is, by and large, aggression."
Saudi jets to arrive in Turkey to strike IS (AFP)
Saudi jets are due to arrive at the Incirlik air base in Turkey this week take part in the air campaign against IS militants in Syria, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said.
"We are expecting the planes to arrive today or tomorrow (Feb. 26)," Cavusoglu told the state-run Anatolia news agency, adding that Saudi equipment and personnel had already arrived on the ground.
UN may have missed target with air drop to Syria's Deir al-Zor
The UN's first aid-drop over the Syrian city of Deir al-Zor, a government-controlled part of which is under siege by Islamic State militants, may have missed its target.
The World Food Programme said in a press release that the operation had "faced technical difficulties."
"The team will try again when possible to deliver assistance to up to 200,000 people in desperate need in the besieged city whom we have not been able to reach since March 2014. High altitude drops are extremely challenging to carry out and take more than one trial to develop full accuracy," The WFP statement read.
U.N. to announce new round of Syria talks: envoy
The United Nations will name a date on Feb. 26 for Syria's warring parties to return to the negotiating table for a second round of talks, U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura has said, Reuters report.
Moscow concerned about U.S. 'plan B' in Syria if ceasefire fails
Moscow is not aware of any "plan B" of Washington's regarding the Syrian crisis, deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov has said.
"Statements by Washington about the existence of some sort of "plan B" are concerning... we are convinced that now we need to concentrate all efforts on fulfilling the agreements reached regarding a ceasefire," Bogdanov told an audience at the Valdai Club in Moscow today.
Lavrov: there is not and will be no 'Plan B' for Syria
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that there is no "Plan B" for Syria.
"There isn't one and there will be none. No one has [a Plan B]," Lavrov told journalists.
Lavrov's comments came after reports that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had talked of a Plan B in Syria in the event that a ceasefire and peace talks did not work. That plan could involved the partition of Syria, Kerry said.
Russia: Implementing U.S.-Russia joint statement on Syria will bring political settlement closer
Russia's Foreign Ministry says that a "close implementation of the joint statement by Russia and the United States on Syria will bring prospects for a political settlement closer," RIA Novosti reports.
French teacher to face trial for 'lying' over IS attack (AFP)
A teacher in France is to face trial in April for allegedly lying to police by claiming he was attacked by three IS members, a prosecutor has said, AFP reports.
The teacher, Tsion Sylvain Saadoun, is charged with "false accusation of an imaginary crime," said Brice Robin, prosecutor in the southern city of Marseille.
In November, just days after a devastating IS attack in Paris that left 130 people dead, Saadoun invited press to his home in Marseille, claiming he had been attacked with a knife by three men who said they were tied to IS.