Putin: "I don't know if we need a base in Syria...it's possible for the Russian armed forces to be temporarily based in Syria."
Putin says that it would take two days for the Russian air group in Syria to be withdrawn, he is stressing that this is a temporary deployment.
Regarding the length of time that the Russian air force will be deployed in Syria, Putin says:
"We will continue [the operation] for as long as the Syrian army needs support."
Putin went on to say that Russia will support the Syrians "until the start of the political process, until they have started to negotiate."
Putin Doubts Whether Permanent Latakia Base Is Necessary
Russia's Life News has more on Putin's comments regarding whether Russia will establish a permanent military base in Syria's Latakia province.
Russia is currently operating out of the Hmeymim air base in northern Latakia.
"I really don't know whether we need that base or not. What is a base? It's a significant infrastructure, you need to invest money there... some people believe that we need to have a base there. Me, I'm not so sure. Why? The base could be temporary. It's possible. But putting down roots, there's not such an urgent need," Putin said.
RIA Novosti has this quote from Putin on the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad:
"We will never agree to someone from the outside imposing something."
Life News -- which is close to Russia's security services -- has more detailed quotes from Putin on his comments about the Turkomans in northern Syria.
Turkey has accused Russia of deliberately targeting Turkoman rebel groups in Latakia province, which Russia has denied.
In his press conference today, Putin said that he had never even heard of the Turkomans.
"I had never heard about the Turkomans before. No one said anything," Putin said.
Putin added that in downing the Su-24 jet, Turkey had been acting on behalf of the United States but had put everyone in a difficult position, including the Americans.
The Kremlin's official Twitter account has just tweeted Putin's comments about the costs of the Syrian operation.
Putin said that there have been no losses in the budget.
The mother of James Foley, the American hostage beheaded on camera by the IS group last year, has said that she was angry at French far-right politician Marine Le Pen for posting a graphic photo depicting the act on social media, Reuters reports.
"We are offended that that awful image of our son's brutal murder be used publicly," Diana Foley said in an interview on Europe 1 radio.
"To tweet it again just continues to promote their propaganda -- the horrible way they recruit others who want to be brutal. I certainly do not want that to continue."
Le Pen posted the photo on her Twitter account as well as two others. One of the images showed a man dressed in orange with his severed head placed on his chest.
IS militants are using Ukraine as a transit country to reach the EU and IS-controlled territories in the Middle East, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and former intelligence officers have said, the Kyiv Post reports.
Mykola Malomuzh, the ex-head of the Intelligence Service of Ukraine and a political consultant, told the Kyiv Post that IS militants have been using Ukraine as a transit corridor because the rules of border crossing in Ukraine are less strict than in other European countries.
Analyst Charlie Winter points out that, despite IS's considerable propaganda efforts to promote its claims that it had established its own currency, the gold dinar, in the lands under its control -- this has not happened, even in its Syrian stronghold of Raqqa.