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Moscow denies planning airstrikes in Syria

Xinhua, September 24, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Kremlin on Thursday denied media reports that Moscow has plans for unilateral airstrikes against terrorists in war-torn Syria.

Earlier in the day, Bloomberg quoted two unnamed sources "familiar with the matter" as saying that the Kremlin had drafted a request to the Russian Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, for allowing the deployment of 2,000 air force personnel in Syria.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that he has not seen any documents relating to the alleged airstrike preparations.

"I have no information about this. I have seen no such documents. I have no explanation where this information comes from," he was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti news agency.

When asked to comment on the possibility of an independent strike against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, Peskov said there was a lot of speculation in the media, most of which has nothing to do with the reality.

In a separate statement made to RIA Novosti, Viktor Ozerov, chairman of the Federation Council Committee of Security and Defense, also denied the existence of such a plan.

"There has been no request sent to the Federation Council and as far as I know no one is being prepared," he said.

Bloomberg said Russia is prepared to launch unilateral airstrikes against the IS in Syria if the United States rejects a proposal to join forces. It also claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin planned to discuss such a proposal with his U.S. counterpart, Barack Obama, during his visit to New York for the UN General Assembly debate next week.

However, Peskov on Thursday said there has been no confirmation of such a meeting between the two heads of state.

"We will make a statement after this meeting is confirmed, and if it is confirmed," Peskov said.

Western officials and media have expressed their concerns over an alleged Russian military buildup in Syria. Moscow said it only supplied military hardware and military experts in Syria to train local troops to use it.

On Friday, Peskov said Russia would consider sending troops to Syria if it received a request from Damascus.

"If there is a request, then in the framework of bilateral contracts, it will be discussed and considered," the spokesman said. Endi