The Russian and Turkish presidents have met in Moscow to discuss the recent escalation of tensions in Syria's Idlib province. The flare-up was triggered by intensified attacks by local terrorists against Syrian forces and latter's retaliatory strikes, in which Turkish troops were caught in the crossfire, resulting in casualties on their part.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he has negotiated an agreement to resolve the ongoing tensions in Idlib province with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The two countries have agreed following “uneasy, but productive” talks that they should not reduce their efforts in the fight against terrorism and reaffirmed their adherence to the Astana format for resolving the crisis in Syria.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that his country will be sending additional forces to Idlib province under a new agreement with Russia, but that the status of Turkey's Operation Spring Shield will be “changed”. Erdogan added that starting at midnight between 5 and 6 March a ceasefire regime will be established in Idlib for both Turkish and Syrian forces. The Turkish president said that the army reserves the right to respond to any hostile actions of the Syrian forces, but assured that otherwise Turkish troops will simply be monitoring that the ceasefire regime is abided by.
“We have established observation posts to reduce tensions in Idlib. These…
