Russian navy battle ships station in the bay during a rehearsal of the Russian Navy Day parade in Sevastopol, Crimea.

Lebanon has turned down a Russian request to divert civilian flights in some areas so that Moscow could conduct a naval exercise in the Mediterranean Sea, the Lebanese transport minister said on Friday.

“The Russians have asked the Directorate of Civil Aviation authority in Lebanon to divert the routes of planes in a specific area over the international waters where they are planning to conduct the exercise,” Ghazi Zeaiter said.

“This (disruption would have been) for three days but we refused because it is against our interests,” he added.

Russia has said it wants the manoeuvres to start at midnight local time and to last three days, Lebanon’s National News Agency said, citing a telegram from the Russian navy.

A Russian defense ministry official in Moscow declined any immediate comment. Russia has been carrying out air strikes against rebels opposed to its ally President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, Lebanon’s neighbor, for nearly two months.

Related articles across the web

• Israeli, Russian deputy military chiefs to coordinate on Syria
• Israeli, Russian deputy military chiefs to coordinate on Syria
• Russian Navy Begins Naval Exercise Off Syrian Coast
• Not Losing Face in Syria
• The Syrian Powder Keg: Markets Getting Explosive
• Russia seen building up two more military facilities in Syria - Jane's
• Satellite Images Reveal Two More Russian Bases Being Built In Syria
• Russia Starting Syria Drone Surveillance Missions
• U.S. Officials Say Russian Fighter Jets Seen In Syria
• Russia plans med drills, denies planning strike on Islamic State