MOSCOW, December 8. /TASS/. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has declined to comment on reports citing anonymous sources that Russia plans to raise the issue of Turkey’s military actions in Iraq at the UN Security Council’s meeting on Tuesday.
"You should ask them, we do not comment on the sources," Peskov said, adding that it’s up to the Russian Foreign Ministry to speak on this matter.
A diplomatic source at the UN told TASS earlier in the day that Russia could raise the issue of Turkey’s troops presence in northern Iraq without Baghdad’s permission at a closed-door meeting of the UN Security Council on Tuesday.
"The issue will be raised at a closed-door meeting to discuss any other issues," the source said, dismissing earlier reports that Moscow had called for a separate UN Security Council’s meeting.
On December 4, Turkey sent around 130 soldiers, tanks and artillery weapons to northern Iraq where Ankara is training Kurdish peshmerga fighters for attacks on Mosul, seized by the Islamic State group’s gunmen.
Iraq’s Foreign Ministry said Turkey had deployed forces without Baghdad’s permission and warned that it considered the step as a "hostile act." On December 6, Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Baghdad had the right to take any action, including turning to the UN Security Council if Turkey’s troops failed to leave Iraq’s territory within 48 hours.