Vladimir Putin

There are good prospects for renewal of negotiations on the South Stream gas pipeline project, Russian permanent envoy to the EU Vladimir Chizhov has announced.

TASS news agency quotes him as saying in a video conference call from Brussels, that, "in light of the need for Russian gas in the EU, there are such opportunities."

Russia will complete the withdrawal of the bulk of its forces from Syria before the end of the week, a top Russian general suggested in an interview published on March 17.

According to the Russian Air force Commander in Chief, Colonel Viktor Bondarev the withdrawal of the largest part of Russian forces from Syria will be completed within the next two to three days. Speaking to Russian newspaper ‘Kosmomolskaya Pravda’. Israel has asked for reassurances from Russia that its withdrawal will not strengthen Hezbollah and Shiite paramilitary groups in Syria.

Turkey and Russia have been locked in an angry dispute over Syria ever since the Turkish Air Force downed a Russian fighter jet in November 2015. That move by Turkey backfired by pushing Moscow into supporting Syrian Kurdish fighters who Ankara considers to be terrorists.

Russia's partial withdrawal of forces from Syria is "a very positive step," Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on March 16, adding that he hoped it would compel Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to make concessions.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry have discussed recent developments surrounding the Syrian conflict, as the latter will visit Russia next week to discuss the Syria crisis.

Ankara remains cautious about Russia's partial withdrawal from Syria after conducting more than five months of air strikes in the country. 

Turkish sources speaking on condition of anonymity said Russia's withdrawal was not so much an act of goodwill but a "political maneuver" with the intention of pressuring Western countries as United Nations-backed peace talks continue in Geneva. 

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.