Updated 9.14pm

A Russian MiG-29 fighter jet from the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier has crashed into the Mediterranean Sea, news agencies cited a defence ministry statement as saying.

They said the pilot was safe after ejecting from the plane. Flights by Russian military planes in the region had not been suspended.

Admiral Kuznetsov belongs to a naval group which Russia has deployed near Syria as part of its campaign against militants who are fighting government forces. It leads the battlegroup that was reportedly not allowed to refuel in Malta two weeks ago. 

NATO has claimed that the battlegroup is involved in bombing civilians in Aleppo - a claim the Russian foreign ministry had previously denied.

Foreign Minister George Vella had at the time said that Malta would not aid any country participating in the atrocities being perpetrated in Syria. He did not rule out the future refuelling of Russian vessels – not warships – in Malta depending on circumstances. 

The government's decision prompted fury in Moscow, with the country's Foreign Ministry spokesman saying Maltese officials were the victims of "Western propaganda." 

RIA news agency said the plane had crashed during a training flight, a few kilometres (miles) from the aircraft carrier, due to a technical fault.

Attacks by Russian and Syrian air forces on targets near Syria's second-largest city of Aleppo have been suspended for the past four weeks.