Russia's S-400 anti-aircraft system has been deployed in Syria, the pro-Kremlin news site RIA Novosti says, citing one of its own correspondents.
The S-400 have been deployed in Russia's Hmeymim air base in Latakia province, the report says.
The aim of the anti-aircraft system, according to RIA Novosti, is to "guarantee the security of Russian pilots in Syria and destroy any targets that represent a threat to them."
The IS group, which Russia says it is striking in Syria, does not have aircraft. The deployment of the S-400 comes in the wake of the downing by Turkey on November 24 of a Russian Su-24 jet. Moscow insists that the jet did not violate Turkish air space and was shot down while in Syria, while Turkey insists that the jet entered its air space and was warned.
The Huffington Post has tweeted this list explaining the UK government's proposed strategy in Syria.
More on British Prime Minister David Cameron's case for Britain extending air strikes against IS in Syria.
Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov has told reporters he is not aware of measures to impose sanctions against Turkey, in the wake of an announcement this morning that Russia will impose controls over Turkish imports.
The controls did not amount to an embargo on Turkish products, Peskov said.
However, Peskov did say that the controls were necessary in the light of "increasing dangers of various manifestations of extremism."
"Naturally,more stringent measures of control will be taken. This is completely natural, all the more so in conditions of the unpredictable actions in the case of the Turkish republic," Peskov added.
Peskov then stated the obvious: that Russia-Turkey relations have suffered a serious blow after the downing of the Su-24 jet on November 24.
"Of course, fixing this quite devastating damage that has been caused to bilateral relations is very difficult, very hard. It is too serious an event with very serious, unavoidable consequences," Putin's spokesman said.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has accused Russia of targeting "moderate opposition" forces in Syria, though Moscow "sees the danger" of IS.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says there has as yet been "no clear apology" from Turkey over the downing of a Russian Su-24 jet on November 24.
"What happened two days ago in the skies over Syria goes against reason and international law. The plane was downed in Syrian territory. Thus far we did not hear either a clear apology from the highest political echelons in Syria, or proposals for reparations or damages or promises to punish the perpatrators for committing a crime," Putin was quoted as saying by the pro-Kremlin RIA Novosti.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he thinks Turkey's leadership is "deliberately" pushing bilateral relations to a dead end.
Speaking in Moscow on November 26, Putin said Moscow was waiting for an apology and an offer of compensation from Turkey after a Turkish Air Force jet shot down a Russian warplane along the Turkey-Syria border on November 24. A Russian pilot died in the incident.
Putin added that he expected Ankara to "punish the criminals for this crime."
The Russian president also said that the emergence of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group was a result of "the passivity of some countries and often [their] direct complicity in terrorism."
He said that he hoped a "real, broad international coalition" will be formed into a "coordinated, powerful force" that will "support the actions of the Russian military conducting successful operations against terrorist groups and structures in Syria." (TASS, Interfax, Reuters)
Ahead of today's talks between French President Hollande and his Russian counterpart Putin in Moscow, Russia's Foreign Ministry reports that French Ambassador to Russia Jean-Maurice Ripert has met with Deputy Foreign Minister for Anti-Terrorism Matters Oleg Syromolotov in Moscow to discuss "Russian-French cooperation in countering terrorist threats in the context of the war against IS and combating terror financing."
AFP tweets this comment from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan:
Iraq's Vice President Nuri al-Maliki has lashed out at Turkish President Erdogan after Turkey's downing of a Russian war plane earlier this week.
Al-Maliki accused Erdogan of pushing the world towards a global conflict.
"Erdogan claims that a Russian aircraft entered Turkey's airspace for a few seconds, forgetting that its own planes violate Iraqi and Syrian airspace every day...Erdogan's double standards and aggressive policies are threatening a new world war," al-Maliki said in a statement, AFP is reporting.