Moscow Rejects Turkey’s Allegations Of Ethnic Cleansing In Syria

But the Kremlin has refused to emphatically commit to the project’s future after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane on the Syrian border prompting Moscow to impose selected economic sanctions on Ankara.

He showed Putin the plane’s flight recorder, which he said Syrian and Russian troops had recovered from the crash site.

This is the first time that Kalibr and KH-101 cruise missiles have been deployed by Russian Federation during its strikes against targets in Syria.

However, Western analysts and Syrian rebel sources say most of the Russian bombing has targeted anti-Assad groups who are not jihadists.

His comments came the same day that Secretary of State John Kerry said that he would be traveling to Moscow in the coming days to discuss the situation in Syria and Ukraine with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The intervention has had unintended consequences, notably when Turkey shot down the jet, saying it had strayed into Turkish airspace, an allegation Russian Federation denies.

While, an analysis of the black box would help determine the downed jet’s flight path and position, Putin said “Whatever we learn [from the black box] won’t change our attitude to what the Turkish authorities did”.

Diplomats from Moscow, Washington and the United Nations will hold Syria talks in Geneva on Friday as efforts to end the conflict ratchet up. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Wednesday that Russian aircraft from the Hemeimeem air base in Syria’s coastal province of Latakia could reach any target in Syria within 40 minutes, which means there is no need to have any additional air bases.

Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu delivered the black box to the Kremlin on Wednesday, but was told by Mr Putin not to allow it to be opened until worldwide experts were available to examine it in the hope that they will confirm Moscow’s version of events.

In September, Russia began launching airstrikes in support of the regime, severely complicating a war zone that includes an aerial campaign against ISIS by a U.S.-led coalition. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin called Thursday for a broad global front against terrorism and accused Turkey of trading oil with the Islamic State group.

“The initial reports that we’re getting back are that it’s off to a positive start, and that they’re beginning to make good – they’re beginning to make some progress”, he said.