Putin: Russia can replace Austria in UN Golan force

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia is ready to send peacekeepers to the Golan Heights to replace Austrian forces after Vienna said it would recall its troops from a U.N. monitoring force due to worsening fighting in Syria.

"We could replace the leaving Austrian contingent in this region on the border between Israeli troops and the Syrian army," Putin told the RIA Novosti news agency. (Reuters)