MOSCOW, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday said that all Russian actions in Syria aim for the political settlement of Syrian conflicts.
"The political track and political settlement is the final objective of all the actions of Russia. This is also certainly the only possible goal of the whole international community as well as the Syrian leadership," Peskov said.
There are media reports about Syrian opposition members claiming that Russia's actions in the country would make them refuse to attend political settlement talks.0 Earlier in the day, Russia's ambassador to NATO Alexander Grushko criticized the "information war" started by the West on the situation in Syria.
"The impression is that the incident of Russian aircraft violating Turkey's airspace was used to involve NATO in the West's information campaign launched to pervert and distort the goals of the operation carried out by Russia's aerospace forces in Syria," Grushko said.
"Such problems are sorted out through bilateral or military channels in line with established practice," Interfax news agency quoted Grushko as saying.
Grushko claimed that the explanation of the Russian side has been ignored, which revealed true intentions of the conveners of Monday's North Atlantic Council meeting.
Their objectives could also be confirmed by the NATO statement issued after the meeting, alleging that Russian air strikes have not targeted the Islamic State terrorist group and caused civilian casualties, the diplomat said.
"I do not believe that NATO is unable to fix and analyze the detailed data about the actions of Russian air forces in Syria provided daily by Russian Defense Ministry on the basis of objective control," Grushko said.
Russian ambassador to Turkey was summoned again to the country's Foreign Ministry on Monday as Ankara claimed Russian aircraft violated Turkish airspace for the second time on Sunday.
Turkish General Staff said on Monday that two Turkish F-16 fighter jets were harassed by an unidentified MiG-29 for five minutes on the border with Syria.
According to an online statement released by Russian Defense Ministry on Monday, Russian air forces in Syria have nothing to do with Sunday's incident.
A Russian SU-30 on Saturday crossed into Turkish airspace over Turkey's southern province of Hatay, which according to the Russian ministry was caused by bad weather.
The White House said on Monday that the United States and its allies are "quite concerned" by Russia's incursion into Turkish airspace, calling the incident a "provocation."
Related:
Russian aircraft in Syria violates Turkish airspace because of bad weather
MOSCOW, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Russian Defense Ministry on Monday blamed bad weather conditions for the brief violation of Turkish airspace by a Russian aircraft near Syrian border.
"The incident was a consequence of unfavorable weather conditions in the area. One should not look for any conspiracy theories here," the ministry said in an online press release. Full story
Syrian rebel groups call for alliance against Russian military intervention
DAMASCUS, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Several Syrian rebel groups called on regional countries to form an alliance against the Russian-led coalition pummelling them, according to a statement released Monday.
In the statement, over 41 rebel groups, including the powerful Ahrar al-Sham Movement, deemed the Russian military intervention in Syria as an "occupation," and urged regional countries to form a coalition in order to face the Russian-led coalition which also includes Iran, Iraq and Syria. Full story
NATO urges Russia to cease "attacks on Syrian opposition, civilians"
BRUSSELS, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- NATO on Monday called on Russia to immediately cease its attacks on the Syrian opposition and civilians, and to focus its efforts on fighting the Islamic State (IS, or ISIL).
In a statement issued after the North Atlantic Council meeting, the bloc criticized the military actions by Russia in Syria "led to civilian casualties." Full story
White House "quite concerned" by Russia's incursion into Turkish airspace
WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- The White House said on Monday that the U.S. and its allies are "quite concerned" by Russia's incursion into Turkish airspace, calling the incident a "provocation."
Turkey said on Monday that a Russian warplane violated its airspace on Saturday in the southern Yayladagi town of Hatay province near the Syrian border. Full story











