Russia

If Russia withdraws most of its forces from Syria President Bashar al-Assad "will be under pressure to negotiate a peaceful political transition."

This was German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier's reaction to Moscow's announcement made late on Monday.

The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) has dismissed reported Russian allegations that Turkish troops are inside Syrian territory as "false."

The first of Moscow's warplanes landed back in Russia from Syria on March 15 at the start of a surprise withdrawal that Western governments hope could boost United Nations-brokered peace talks ongoing in Geneva by pressuring the Syrian government.

U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura described the pullout as a "significant development" for peace negotiations.

Russia began withdrawing its forces from Syria on March 14, a move hailed as a potentially "positive step" for a new round of UN-backed peace talks seeking to end the conflict.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu to start the withdrawal of forces from Syria, Tuesday. The country will, however, keep a military presence in the port of Tartus and at the Khneimim airbase to observe the ceasefire. The Russian President said he considered the objectives set by the Russian military as accomplished.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered to start withdrawing Russian troops from Syria on Tuesday.

Russia is ready to coordinate with the United States to retake the rebel strongholds of Syria's Raqqa and Palmyra, said Russian FM Sergei Lavrov, as United Nations-sponsored peace talks resumed in Geneva. 

Two robotic spacecraft on March 14 began a seven-month journey to Mars as part of a European-Russian unmanned space mission to sniff out leads to life on the Red Planet.

Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz has accused Russia of being responsible for the downing the Polish presidential plane in 2010.

He described it as an act of "terrorism."

Agricultural activities in western Antalya province have almost ground to a halt, due to ongoing problems in exports over the last couple of years being exacerbated by the jet crisis between Turkey and Russia, local sector players have warned.