MOSCOW’S Defence Ministry announced yesterday that it would conduct naval drills in the eastern Mediterranean this month involving a cruiser and a destroyer carrying guided missiles, a landing craft and other ships.

The ministry said that Russia always holds an array of military drills at this time of the year and that the government had approved the Mediterranean manoeuvres a year ago.

Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov blasted foreign media for the hype over Russia’s presence in Syria, branding a recent report that Moscow could be preparing for a unilateral strike on Isis in Syria as “speculation that has nothing to do with reality.”

He said that he had no knowledge of plans for President Vladimir Putin to ask the Russian parliament to give the green light for sending troops to Syria.

An Israeli military official said yesterday that Israel had set up a joint mechanism with the Russian military to co-ordinate operations in Syria and avoid accidental confrontations.