President Vladimir Putin has denied the Russian military’s request to order a resumption of airstrikes in eastern Aleppo, his press secretary said. The military had asked permission to resume airstrikes due to the increased activity of militants.

“The Russian president considers it inappropriate at the present time to resume airstrikes in Aleppo," Dmitry Peskov told the press.

However, Peskov added that “in case of extreme necessity to prevent provocative actions on the part of terrorist groups, the Russian side reserves the right to use all means at its disposal to provide an appropriate level of support to the Syrian armed forces.”

Russia will make a decision on further action in accordance with the events on the ground in Aleppo, the spokesman added.

The Russian president believes that the humanitarian pause should continue “to allow the withdrawal of the wounded and the militants who wish to leave the city. And, which is also significant, to allow our American partners to fulfill the obligations to separate the so-called ‘moderate’ opposition and the terrorists, which they took upon themselves,” Peskov said.

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Earlier on Friday, Lt. Gen. Sergey Rudskoy, head of operations in the Russian General Staff, said: "Due to the fact that there are still deaths among civilians and that the militants have resumed military activities against government forces, we’ve addressed Russia’s commander-in-chief, asking permission for the resumption of airstrikes targeting illegal armed groups in eastern Aleppo,”

Earlier on Friday, militants “used the moratorium of Russian and Syrian combat flights” and attempted to break into eastern Aleppo, the General Staff representative said.

“The attack was carried out by three groups [of militants]… with support of 20 tanks and 15 APCs. All this was accompanied by heavy fire from rocket launchers and artillery," he said.

The offensive was repelled, with the terrorists losing six tanks and five armored personnel carriers, Rudskoy said.

During the last three days, the terrorists have shelled western Aleppo on 62 occasions, killing 43 people and injuring 76 more, Rudskoy said.

On Thursday, a school in the Hay al-Andalus district of the city came under fire, with 12 civilians, including three school children, losing their lives and 14 others receiving injuries.

Russian air forces in Syria have not carried out combat flights in eastern Aleppo for 10 days in order to facilitate humanitarian access to the city.

Russia’s center for reconciliation in Syria is currently in talks “with representatives of the public authorities of eastern Aleppo and several armed groups on the evacuation of the civilian population and withdrawal of militants from areas under their control,” Rudskoy said.</s>MOSCOW, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Russia’s President Vladimir Putin believes that the resumption of air strikes in Syria’s Aleppo is unnecessary for now, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.

Putin rejects resuming the strikes in order to give the United States time to separate terrorist groups from the moderate opposition and to allow militants and civilians to leave Aleppo, Peskov said.

However, Russia reserves the right to use all of its means and force to support Syrian army, he added. (Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova; Writing by Polina Devitt; Editing by Alison Williams)</s>MOSCOW: The Kremlin said Friday that President Vladimir Putin did not think it was time to resume air strikes on Aleppo after the defence ministry requested that a moratorium on bombing be lifted.

“The Russian president considers it inappropriate at the current moment to resume strikes on Aleppo,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that Putin thought it was necessary to “continue the humanitarian pause” in the war-ravaged city. -AFP</s>MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin on Thursday dismissed claims that Russia is interfering in the U.S. presidential election, saying the allegations are designed to distract the public from real issues.

The United States has accused Russia of coordinating the hacks of Hillary Clinton's campaign emails to influence the outcome of the election.

Speaking to international foreign policy experts in Sochi, Putin dismissed "the hysteria about Russia's influence on the U.S. presidential election."

He argued that U.S. elites have used the "mythical and fictitious" issue to distract attention from real problems such as government debt and police violence.

"Does anyone seriously think Russia can somehow influence the American people's choice?" Putin said. "Is America some kind of banana republic? America is a great power!"

He called the claim that Russia favors Donald Trump in the race as "sheer nonsense" that has served as a campaign tool.

Putin added that it's not clear what stance the next U.S. president will take toward Russia, but added that Moscow welcomes campaign statements about normalizing ties.

"We will work with any president who will be elected by the American people," he said.

Putin also asserted that the rise of popularity of nationalist parties in Europe was rooted in a widening gap between elites and the regular citizens, not the influence of Russian propaganda as many in the West have suggested.

"I would like to have such propaganda machine in Russia, but, regrettably, there is no such thing," Putin said with a note of sarcasm. "We don't have such global media as CNN, BBC and others."

He also shrugged off allegations that Russia harbors aggressive military intentions in Europe.

"Of course, it's quite pleasant and sometimes advantageous to cast oneself as a defender of civilization from some kind of new barbarians, but Russia has no intention to attack anyone," Putin said. "It's plain ridiculous."

Russia-West relations have plummeted to their lowest point since the Cold War era amid the Ukrainian crisis and differences over the war in Syria.

The U.S. and the European Union have imposed economic sanctions on Russia in response to its annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and support for a pro-Russia insurgency in eastern Ukraine.

The U.S. and its NATO allies have deployed their forces in the Baltics and Poland in response to Russia's moves. Moscow has described the deployments as a threat to its security and pledged to respond in kind.

Amid the tensions, NATO complained that Russian warplanes fly with the transponders that would allow them to be identified switched off, jeopardizing civilian flights.

Putin said Thursday that he backed a Finnish proposal for both Russian and NATO aircraft to have their transponders switched on while flying over the Baltics, but added that the alliance turned it down earlier this year.

Putin defended Russia's support for the Syrian army's siege of the rebel-held eastern districts of the city of Aleppo, saying it's necessary to crush the militants there.

Putin said there is choice between "keeping a terrorist nest there or crushing that nest while minimizing civilian casualties." He shrugged off the calls to end the onslaught on Aleppo, arguing that the U.S.-backed, Iraqi-led siege of Mosul should also be halted then, and the prospective attack on Raqqa by the U.S.-led coalition should not be launched at all.

He voiced regret about a quick collapse last month of a cease-fire in Syria brokered by Russia and the U.S. and blamed unidentified forces in Washington for wrecking it.</s>LONDON (Tribune News Service) — Whoever wins the U.S. election less than two weeks away is going have a rough time managing the relationship with Russia.

At an annual gathering of Russia specialists, President Vladimir Putin didn’t just deliver his by-now-familiar tirade against perceived U.S. wrongdoings on the global stage, he also detailed why he feels it is no longer worth trying to work with Washington.

“It is impossible to agree with you. What is agreed is not implemented,” Putin said of the U.S., speaking through a simultaneous translator during a panel and question-and-answer session that lasted three hours.

Looking more relaxed and confident than in recent years, Putin cited examples going back to an alleged verbal agreement by the U.S. not to enlarge NATO. He also dwelled on a recent and short-lived truce in Syria. That cease-fire, he said, collapsed when the U.S. promised and failed to separate moderate Syrian rebels from terrorist groups in Aleppo and instead bombed a Syrian army base that killed more than 60 soldiers.

The U.S. has said that attack was an error, and that Russia should have given the peace effort more time before resuming hostilities. Secretary of State John Kerry has described the situation on the ground as war crimes.

The attacks on U.S. administrations past and present did not stop there. Putin went on to say Russia was sick of the high-handed treatment by Americans over the past quarter of a century: Instead of being consulted as an equal partner, Russia would be presented with decisions as faits accomplis.

“There is no dialogue, that is the problem,” Putin told this year’s Valdai Club meeting of foreign and Russian analysts, held near the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi. “A decision is made and we are told that it is the right one.”

At the same time, Putin repeated a stock phrase in diplomacy: that he would engage with the next U.S. commander-in-chief, whoever that might be.

He also appeared to downplay conditions he recently set in order for Russia to return to a 2000 agreement with the U.S. to dispose of surplus weapons-grade plutonium. Among his demands had been the withdrawal of NATO forces to pre-2000 positions and the repeal and compensation for Ukraine-related sanctions. He now called those just “a piece of paper.”

In any case, few of those conditions are in the power of a U.S. president to deliver, and the ultimatum was interpreted by some as a gauntlet thrown down to establish the price of any rapprochement.

At one point, Putin was challenged that if he wants to improve Russia’s economy he should have a less aggressive foreign policy. Showing some sign of irritation, he replied: “We all want to defuse geopolitical tensions, but not through a funeral. If to defuse geopolitical tensions we need to bury ourselves, no one would be satisfied by this.”

His words were interpreted by Andrey Kortunov, director general of the Russian International Affairs Council, to mean that capitulation to Western demands over Syria or Ukraine “is not only a zero-sum game, but also one that would lead to the collapse of the country.”

Given the strategic importance of the U.S.-Russia relationship, it would be wise for the next U.S. leader to try and start afresh with Putin, Kortunov said. He admitted, though, that “it will be difficult.” One has only to look at the 2009 attempt by the Obama administration, known as the Russia reset.

Should Hillary Clinton win on Nov. 8, accusations that Russian hackers were responsible for leaking emails from the server of the Democratic National Committee could make any rapprochement even harder. Putin on Thursday dismissed the idea Russia had tried to influence the election as absurd, arguing the U.S. was not a Banana Republic.

The most fruitful area for the two former foes to collaborate on has traditionally been arms control. But judging by Putin’s performance on Thursday, he appears to have little interest.

Plutonium aside, Putin was also critical of the 1987 Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty. He complained that it forced the former Soviet Union to eliminate its land-based intermediate nuclear missiles while leaving U.S. air and sea launched missiles in place and countries such as Iran free to develop their own land-based missiles.

When asked about recent Russian nuclear saber-rattling, including the deployment of nuclear missiles on Poland’s border, Putin coolly said nuclear deterrence had ensured peace during the Cold War. He recalled that he warned George W. Bush that unless NATO abandoned plans to deploy an anti-ballistic missile system in Europe, Russia would have to elevate its own attack posture. The former president, he said, told him to do whatever he felt necessary.

He took those words to heart.</s>Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia had no other option but to clear out what he called "a nest of terrorists" from Syria's Aleppo despite the fact that civilians were also present in the city.

Putin said civilian casualties in conflicts should be mourned everywhere, not just in Aleppo, pointing to what he said were civilians killed around Mosul in Iraq.

"Bells should toll for all innocent victims. Not just in Aleppo," said Putin.</s>MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin says the claims of Russia's interference in the U.S. presidential election are designed to distract public attention from real issues.

The United States has accused Russia of coordinating the hacks of Hillary Clinton's campaign emails to influence the outcome of the election.

Speaking today to international foreign policy experts in Sochi, Putin dismissed "the hysteria about Russia's influence on the U.S. presidential election."

He argued that U.S. elites have used the "mythical and fictitious" issue to distract attention from real problems such as government debt and police violence.

Putin disputed that the U.S. is "some kind of 'banana republic'" that could be susceptible to Russia's influence, calling America "a great power."

He also said it's equally "ridiculous" to allege that Russia has aggressive military intentions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin rejects the Russian military’s request to resume airstrikes in eastern Aleppo, instead letting the humanitarian pause continue.