The flight had been bringing holidaymakers back to Saint Petersburg, Russia's second largest city, when it disappeared off radar screens while over the Sinai peninsula.
International investigators have begun probing why a Russian airliner carrying 224 people crashed in a mountainous area of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, killing everyone on board in one of the deadliest Airbus incidents of the past decade.
Russian President Vladimir Putin held phone talks with King Salman of Saudi Arabia focussed on seeking a solution to the Syria crisis, the Kremlin said.
Syria needs to eradicate "terrorism" to find a political solution to end the country's war, embattled President Bashar al-Assad told a visiting Russian delegation.
Russia plans to open a $5 billion credit line for Iran to help finance infrastructure projects in the country, officials from both countries said during a visit by Moscow's energy minister.
President Vladimir Putin accused the West of playing a "double game" with terrorist groups in Syria, where a US-led coalition is conducting a bombing campaign.
The Australian foreign minister's use of a red-faced emoji to depict Russia's Vladimir Putin sparked debate among lawmakers in Canberra, demanding to know what the icon means for relations between the nations.
Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia has said it plans to hold a referendum on joining Russia but the Kremlin appeared to pour cold water on the idea.
NATO voiced concern that Russia's air attacks in Syria creates the risk of "an incident getting out of control," as Moscow and the US-led international coalition pursue different military objectives in the country.
Russia's military intervention in Syria will not save President Bashar al-Assad, French President Francois Hollande said Friday after an EU summit called for a political transition to a new leader.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said there was a "glimmer of hope" that Ukraine could finally head towards a political solution to ending the separatist war in the country's east.
President Vladimir Putin called on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to lend an additional $3 billion to Ukraine to help the ex-Soviet country pay off its debt to Russia.