The Russian Federation plans to negotiate with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to compare information with plans to advance the political settlement in Syria, presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the reporters on Tuesday.
Russian and Turkish presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan will hold talks in Sochi on Tuesday, the main theme of which will be Syria, where the Turkish military is conducting an operation against Kurdish troops.
“Russia wants to discuss the situation in northeast Syria, better understand what is happening, get information on Turkey’s plans, compare this information with general plans to advance a political settlement in the Syrian Arab Republic”, – Peskov said, answering the question of what Russia expects from negotiations with Erdogan.
On October 9, Erdogan announced the launch of the “Source of Peace” operation in northern Syria against the Kurdistan Workers Party and the Islamic State terrorist group banned in Turkey. Turkish aviation attacked the city of Ras al-Ain and a number of other Syrian cities on the border of the two countries on the same day.
Later the start of the ground part of the operation was announced. The Turkish Ministry of Defense reported that the Turkish military and the Syrian armed opposition took control of Ras al-Ain on October 12, and the control of the city of Tell Abyad was announced the next day.
On Thursday, the United States and Turkey said they agreed to suspend Turkey’s military operation for 120 hours and withdraw Kurdish forces from the 30-kilometer buffer zone on the Turkish-Syrian border, which Ankara intends to control independently. Nevertheless, there were reports of continued fighting.
Syrian authorities have repeatedly condemned the occupation policy of Turkey in northern Syria. Russia stated that Turkey needs to avoid actions that could stand in the way of resolving the Syrian conflict, which has been ongoing since 2011.
* – Terrorist organization banned in Russia