A latest-model Russian submarine equipped with cruise missiles has entered the eastern Mediterranean and is located off the Syrian cost, Interfax has reported, citing a source familiar with the situation.
The source named the submarine as the Rostov-na-Donu, a 636.3 Kilo-class submarine, dubbed the "quietest submarine in the world."
The submarine, from the Black Sea Fleet, is equipped with Kalibr-PL cruise missiles, the source said, similar to those used by Caspian Fleet ships on IS targets.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today that he had no information about the reports that the submarine had been sent to Syria, telling journalists to ask the Defense Ministry.
Turkey is not planning to revise the Montreux Convention regulating international access to the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, a spokesman for the Turkish Foreign Ministry said today.
“We don’t currently have any preparation to that end. But anything could be subject to assessment due to developments,” spokesman Tanju Bilgiç said.
The comments come amid an ongoing row between Turkey and Russia after a Russian serviceman apparently held a surface-to-air missile launcher while aboard the Caesar Kunikov landing ship as it passed through the Bosphorus on December 6, en route to Syria.
Russia's TASS news agency has more on Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova's comments about Sunday's incident over the Russian landing ship passing through the Bosphorus with a soldier carrying a missile launcher on deck.
Zakharova said that Ankara had not given any specific reason why this incident had violated the Montreux Convention.
"When our diplomats asked the Turkish side what specifically they saw as a violation, we didn't hear anything except abstract references to 'context and the philosophy of international legal norms'," Zakharova was quoted as saying.
A Russian naval ship that passed through Istanbul on Sunday did not contravene "a single article of the Montreux Convention," a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry has said.
Turkey accused Russia of a "provocation" after the large Russian landing ship Caesar Kunikov passed through the Bosphorus Strait on December 6 while a Russian serviceman allegedly holding a rocket launcher stood on deck.
Ankara summoned the Russian ambassador over the incident and said it constituted an act against the Montreux Convention, referring to the 1936 treaty regulating the transit of naval warships through the Bosphorus Strait and the Dardanelles.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that "protection of a vessel is the legal right of any crew."
"In Ankara, this event was for some reason treated as a 'provocation and constituting a threat'. Our ambassador was told by the Turkish Foreign Ministry of the 'concern of the Turkish side'. According to Turkish diplomats, local media [said] the incident apparently caused 'a deeply indignant response'," Zakharova said.
There could be an international meeting on Syria held in New York next week, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said today after speaking with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Kerry said the meeting depends in part on the outcome of the Saudi-led conference of Syrian opposition representatives that began today in Riyadh.
AFP has more photos of the Eagles of Death Metal band, who returned to the Bataclan theater in Paris to pay respects to the 130 people killed in the November 13 attacks in the city.
Russia's Foreign Ministry has said that it is "seriously concerned" about reports that the U.S.-led coalition in Syria struck a Syrian army base in Deir Ezzor province on December 6, and that a separate coalition strike had allegedly hit civilians in northeastern Syria.
The coalition has denied accusations by Syria that it struck the army base, while a spokesman for U.S. Central Command said yesterday that the military is investigating allegations that it struck civilians in the northeastern Syrian village of Al-Khan.
In a statement published on its website today, the Foreign Ministry said that "In general, these incidents indicate that the situation on the front lines of the war against the so-called Islamic State in Syria and Iraq is heating up."
Russian Foreign Ministry: Turkish Troop Deployment In Iraq 'Illegal'
Turkey's deployment of troops into Iraqi territory without Baghdad's permission is illegal, Russia's Foreign Ministry has said.
"An additional and very serious source of tension is the illegal presence of Turkish troops on Iraqi territory near the city of Mosul, which were deployed there without the appropriate approach to or approval of the lawful Iraqi government. We consider such presence as unacceptable," the Ministry said in a statement.
The Kululiraq Iraqi news website has more details of the latest developments in the battle against IS in the Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's Anbar province.
The news site quotes a senior military source as saying that Iraqi government forces have liberated the southern Ramadi neighborhood of Tameem.
Iraqi forces have taken large parts of Ramadi city from IS militants, AFP is reporting, citing Iraqi officials.
Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's Anbar province, fell to IS in May.