The Russian Navy's frigate Admiral Grigorovich sails in the Bosphorus, on its way to the Mediterranean Sea, in Istanbul, Turkey August 25, 2018.
Russia has deployed several frigates to the Mediterranean via the Bosphorus, an analysis of shipping traffic showed, part of what a Russian newspaper on Tuesday called Moscow's largest naval buildup since it entered the Syrian conflict in 2015.
The reinforcement comes as Russia's ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is believed to be considering an assault on the last big opposition-held enclave, Idlib in the north.
Russia has accused the United States of building up its own forces in the Middle East in preparation for a possible strike on Syrian government forces.
U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura has invited the United States and six other countries for talks in Geneva next month, a U.N. spokeswoman said on Tuesday, as the United Nations continues its push for a new Syrian constitution.He plans to meet senior representatives from the United States, Britain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Germany, France and Egypt on Sept. 14, two days after he meets officials from Russia, Turkey and Iran on Sept 11-12 for previously announced talks."This is going to be an opportunity to discuss the way ahead on the political process," U.N. spokeswoman Alessandra Vellucci said.US: Iran misusing World Court with suit aimed at lifting sanctionsDe Mistura is tasked with forming a committee of Syrian citizens to draw up the new constitution, after receiving nominations from the Syrian government and the opposition.The planned meetings follow a similar set of talks with both groups of countries in June, although Egypt was not involved in that round.The discussions about setting up a constitutional committee have made slow progress and represent a big downgrade in the United Nations' ambitions for Syrian peace talks.‘US seeks to strengthen presence in Syria by setting up missile defense shield’For two years the warring sides repeatedly came to Geneva, in a futile search for agreement on political reforms, a new constitution and new elections.But this year, with little U.S. political involvement and major gains on the battlefield by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his Russian and Iranian allies, the U.N. political process has largely evaporated. 
UN invites US and allies for Syria talks next month
On Saturday, the Admiral Grigorovich and Admiral Essen frigates sailed through Istanbul's Bosphorus towards the Mediterranean, Reuters pictures showed.
The day before, the Pytlivy frigate and landing ship Nikolai Filchenkov were pictured sailing through the Turkish straits that connect the Black Sea with the Mediterranean. The Vishny Volochek missile corvette passed through earlier this month.
The Izvestia newspaper said Russia had gathered its largest naval presence in the Mediterranean Sea since it intervened in Syria in 2015 turning the tide in Assad's favour.
The force included 10 vessels, most of them armed with long-range Kalibr cruise missiles, Izvestia wrote, adding that more were on the way, and that two submarines had also been deployed.
Turkey’s ties to Russia are not an alternative to relations with the U.S. and the EU, said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Tuesday. Speaking at a joint press conference with his Lithuanian counterpart Linas Linkevicius, Çavuşoğlu addressed Turkey’s deteriorating relations with the U.S., noting that numerous congressmen and senators are “working hard” to repair the damage done to ties between the two NATO allies. “The U.S. should drop its threatening language. If it adopts an attitude of ‘I’ll do as I please’ like in cowboy movies, it will face a counter-reaction.” Addressing the issue of blocking the delivery of F-35 jets to Turkey, Çavuşoğlu reiterated that Turkey is a partner in the project and that it is backed by international law.EU for stable economic development in Turkey: GermanyWhy Turkey should establish a naval base in Northern CyprusTurkish, American defense chiefs talk over phone “Can the U.S. who is saying, ‘Don’t purchase the S-400 defense system,’ guarantee that we’d be supplied with Patriot?” asked Çavuşoğlu.Russia will begin delivering its advanced S-400 missile defense system to Turkey in 2019, Russia's state arms exporter Rosoboronexport said.Turkey and the U.S. are currently experiencing rocky relations following Washington’s imposition of sanctions on Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu and Justice Minister Abdülhamit Gül for not releasing American Pastor Andrew Brunson. The sanctions were followed by U.S President Donald Trump increasing tariffs on Turkish imports, which Turkey responded to by imposing customs duties on several U.S.-origin products, including alcohol and tobacco products and cars.Earlier, Çavuşoğlu arrived in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius for an official visit and met Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaite.“At our meeting with President Dalia Grybauskaite of Lithuania, we conveyed [to her] President Erdoğan’s best wishes and congratulations on the occasion of the Centennial of the Restoration of the State of Lithuania,” Cavusoglu said on Twitter.Also on Twitter, he announced the signing of "Turkey-Lithuania Agreement on Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments."“We appreciate Lithuania’s support for Turkey’s EU accession process," Cavusoglu added.Iran sanctions"Turkey is not one of the states of United States, Turkey is an independent state. We don’t have to agree on every decision or actions of one country against another country, particularly when it is not fair, and not just," he said, referring to U.S. sanctions on Iran.U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of a 2015 pact between Iran and major world powers under which sanctions were lifted in return for Tehran accepting curbs on its nuclear program. The Trump administration then announced unilateral plans to restore sanctions against Tehran.
Ties to Russia no alternative to US, EU: Turkish FM
Russia will next month hold its biggest war games in nearly four decades, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday, a massive military exercise that will also involve the Chinese and Mongolian armies.The exercise, called Vostok-2018 (East-2018), will take place in central and eastern Russian military districts and involve almost 300,000 troops, over 1,000 military aircraft, two of Russia's naval fleets, and all its airborne units, Shoigu said in a statement.The manoeuvres will take place at a time of heightened tension between the West and Russia, which is concerned about what it says is an unjustified build-up of the NATO military alliance on its western flank.NATO says it has beefed up its forces in eastern Europe to deter potential Russian military action after Moscow annexed Ukraine's Crimea in 2014 and backed a pro-Russian uprising in eastern Ukraine.Russia says sees signs US preparing for possible strike on SyriaThe war games, which will take place from Sept. 11-15, are likely to displease Japan which has already complained about what it says is a Russian military build-up in the Far East.Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is due to attend a forum in Vladivostok over the same period, and a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said on Tuesday Tokyo always paid attention to shifts in Russian-Chinese military cooperation.Shoigu said the war games would be the biggest since a Soviet military exercise, Zapad-81 (West-81) in 1981."In some ways they will repeat aspects of Zapad-81, but in other ways the scale will be bigger," Shoigu told reporters, while visiting the Russian region of Khakassia.Putin, Xi to hold talks next month in Russia's VladivostokThe Russian Ministry of Defence has said that Chinese and Mongolian military units will also take part in the exercise."A MORE ASSERTIVE RUSSIA"When asked if the cost of holding such a massive military exercise was justified at a time when Russia is faced with higher social spending demands, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said such war games were essential."The country's ability to defend itself in the current international situation, which is often aggressive and unfriendly towards our country, means (the exercise) is justified," Peskov told reporters on a conference call.When asked if China's involvement meant Moscow and Beijing were moving towards an alliance, Peskov said it showed that the two allies were cooperating in all areas.Russia, Tajikistan deny any air attack in Afghan border clashChina and Russia have taken part in joint military drills before but not on such a large scale.NATO spokesman Dylan White said that Russia had briefed the alliance on the planned exercise in May and that NATO planned to monitor it. Russia had invited military attaches from NATO countries based in Moscow to observe the war games, an offer he said was under consideration."All nations have the right to exercise their armed forces, but it is essential that this is done in a transparent and predictable manner," White said in an emailed statement."Vostok demonstrates Russia’s focus on exercising large-scale conflict. It fits into a pattern we have seen over some time: a more assertive Russia, significantly increasing its defence budget and its military presence."Shoigu this month announced the start of snap combat readiness checks in central and eastern military districts ahead of the planned exercise."Imagine 36,000 armoured vehicles - tanks, armoured personnel carriers and armoured infantry vehicles - moving and working simultaneously, and that all this, naturally, is being tested in conditions as close as possible to military ones," Shoigu said on Tuesday. 
Russia to hold biggest war games in nearly four decades