Russian military

The United Nations hopes for "serious negotiation" between the government and a still-to-be-formed unified Syrian opposition in October or November, the U.N. Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura said yesterday.

Turkey does not approve sanctions imposed on Russia by the EU over its annexation of Crimea, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said, urging both sides to resolve their issues through dialogue and political means. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a federal law on the ratification of the protocol and agreement on the establishment of Syrian Army Air Force for a period of 49 years, TASS reported, citing Russia's official legal information portal.

Russia's ever-increasing number of intercepts of foreign reconnaissance planes near its borders indicates NATO's drive to detect weak points in the country's air defense, Russian military expert Boris Rozhin told Sputnik.

Russian strategic bombers have conducted strikes on ISIS targets in Syria, using modern Kh-101 strategic cruise missiles. Several weapon stockpiles and a terrorist command center were destroyed in the strike.

A Russian fighter jet came within five feet of a U.S. Air Force reconnaissance aircraft over the Baltic Sea on Monday, in an encounter the American pilot determined was unsafe.
The incident occurred Monday morning as an RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft flew in international airspace above the Baltic Sea.

The Atlantic Council released a very interesting analysis on the Russian-Turkish relation regarding Syria.

Russia's Defense Ministry has denied reports that Moscow is building a military base in Afrin, but Ankara is not convinced by Russia's comments on the matter, even as it has shied away from publicly responding to Moscow over its developing alliance with Syrian Kurds.

As the spring equinox starts with March 21, which is celebrated as the ancient new year under the name of Nevruz or Newroz in many eastern cultures, preparations are about to be completed for a major offensive on the Syrian city of Raqqa, which has been under occupation by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) since January 2014. According to diplomatic sources, if the operation does

The Russian military announced on March 3 that Kurdish militants of the People's Protection Units (YPG) have started to leave their positions around Manbij in northern Syria to forces loyal to the Bashar al-Assad regime.