Foreign relations of Russia

It is unlikely that a foreign military will launch a ground operation in Syria as long as Russian warplanes are there, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

The Russian officials comments came after Turkey announced it was ready to send troops to Syria “if necessary.”

Turkey and Saudi Arabia are unlikely to launch ground operations in Syria in the light of Russian air forces already stationed in the country, RIA news agency cited Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying on May 4.

Speaking about the crisis in Syria, Lavrov said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is not an ally for Russia to the extent Turkey is for the United States.

The lower house of the French parliament, the National Assembly, on Thursday voted in favor of a resolution calling for lifting of anti-Russian sanctions.

The resolution proposed by the opposition calls on the French government to protest extension of EU sanctions against Moscow, Sputnik reported.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on April 14 condemned as dangerous and provocative a military encounter in the Baltic Sea that the United States has described as a simulated attack on a U.S. destroyer by two Russian warplanes. 

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday condemned as dangerous and provocative a military encounter in the Baltic Sea, with Russian warplanes flying very close to a US military ship.

A high-level delegation from President Putin's United Russia party is coming to Montenegro in mid-April to improve relations with the majority Orthodox country, which was recently invited to join NATO.

The visit will include meetings with pro-Russian parties, religious leaders, NGOs, business associations, media and the Russian diaspora in Montenegro.

The UN Security Council has rejected the Russian request to involve Kurds in the Syrian peace process in Geneva.

This has been announced by Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin.

Serbia-Russia relations are developing successfully in all areas, Russian FM Sergei Lavrov and his Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic agreed on Friday.

Russia is "one of Serbia's most important strategic partners and Belgrade is thankful to Moscow for its support in international organisations on the issue of Kosovo," TASS quoted Dacic as saying before his meeting with Lavrov in Moscow.

The decisions by Greece to expedite travel visas for Russian nationals is a positive step in the outbound Russian tourism industry, according to Russian media reports.

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