In an interview with Turkish media on Friday, Putin said that Russia’s military operation in Syria was being conducted at the request of the country’s legitimate government.
He emphasized that this operation was aimed at combating international terrorists and not to keep Syrian President Bashar Assad in power.
He denied reports about Russian pilots allegedly targeting the Syrian moderate opposition.
“In fact we are already cooperating with the moderate opposition forces and our warplanes have already destroyed several targets they asked us to bomb," Vladimir Putin added.
The Russian Defense Ministry said earlier that it was coordinating its efforts with the Syrian opposition members who fight against terrorists in the war-torn country. Representatives of the Syrian opposition have shared data on the location of terrorist targets with the Russian air group in the Arab Republic.
Moreover, the Russian Foreign Ministry has also been holding talks with members of the Syrian opposition aimed at settling the crisis in the country.
