Russian jets carried out a second day of airstrikes in Syria on Thursday, but there were conflicting claims about whether they were targeting Islamic State and al-Qaida militants or trying to shore up the defenses of President Bashar Assad.
As concerns grew about a conflict that has now drawn in warplanes from the world's two most powerful militaries, Russian President Vladimir Putin denied reports that civilians were killed in any Russian airstrikes.
"We are ready for such information attacks," he said in a live broadcast from the Kremlin. "The first reports of civilian casualties came even before our jets took off."
U.S. and Russian military officials began talks on Thursday on ways to avoid their forces firing on each other in Syria.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said his country and the U.S.-coalition "see eye-to-eye" on the targets of the fight in Syria. He added that "we believe that our position is absolutely in line with international law."
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