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Russia to press U.N. Security Council on Syria's sovereignty

20 February 2016 02:08 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The United Nations Security Council will meet on Friday at the request of Russia, which plans to circulate a draft resolution intended to "preserve the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria" over concerns about a Turkish ground operation, APA reports quoting Reuters.

Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador, Petr Iliichev, told reporters the short draft document does not name Turkey.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Reuters this week that his country, Saudi Arabia and some European powers wanted ground troops in Syria, though no serious plan had been debated.

Russia's relations with Turkey hit a low in November when Turkish warplanes downed a Russian bomber near the Syrian-Turkish border, a move described by Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "dastardly stab in the back".