Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in the Russian city of Sochi to discuss an array of issues, with the situation in Syria and the Turkish military operation there expected to be the main topic of their conversation.
In the presser that followed the talks between the Russian and Turkish presidents on Syria, Vladimir Putin stated that foreign forces currently deployed unlawfully in the Arab Republic must leave in order for the country to return to stability. He added that Turkey shares this vision, as well as that the idea that the Arab Republic's integrity must be preserved.
Separately, he advocated that the Syrian government and Kurdish forces need to hold broad talks in order to take into account the interests of all the religious confessions that exist in the country. Putin noted that Russia shares Turkey's concerns about separatist sentiments in Syria, which, as the Russian president said, have been stimulated from outside the country.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stressed in this regard that the implementation of the joint memorandum, signed by the two presidents as a result of the talks, will undermine “any separatist games” being conducted on Syrian territory.
In the joint memorandum of the two presidents, both countries pledged to work towards finding a lasting political solution for Syria within the Astana Mechanism and promised to assist the Constitutional Committee in this endeavour.
