The head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, welcomed the decision reached the day before during the Russian-Turkish summit in Moscow to ceasefire in Syrian Idlib and spoke in favor of improving relations with Russia.
“Of course, I am happy about the ceasefire. This is good news, this is the prerequisite for the provision of humanitarian assistance to the people in Idlib. Let’s see how this will work”, – Borrell said before an emergency meeting of EU Foreign Ministers for Syria in Croatian Zagreb.
Answering the question of journalists, is it time to straighten relations with Russia, the head of the European Foreign Service stressed that there are many questions on which it is necessary to improve contacts with both Russia and Turkey.
“We must improve relations with Turkey and with Russia. There are a lot of topics that we need to improve, discuss. Actually, that’s why we are here today”, – Borrell explained.
On Thursday in Moscow, negotiations between Russian and Turkish presidents Vladimir Putin and Tayyip Erdogan over the aggravation in the Syrian province of Idlib took place. Following the meeting, a joint document was adopted. The parties reaffirmed their commitment to the “Astana format” and announced the introduction of a ceasefire regime from midnight. In addition, the parties agreed to jointly patrol the important M4 highway, which is now under the control of militants.
The situation in Idlib was once again aggravated after the terrorists of Khayyat Tahrir al-Sham* launched a large-scale attack on the positions of the Syrian government forces on February 27. The SAR army returned fire. The Turkish military, which, according to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, should not have been there, was also bombarded.
As a result, 33 soldiers of the Turkish army were killed, more than 30 people were injured. Immediately after receiving information about the injured Turkish military, the Russian side took measures for a complete ceasefire by the Syrian troops, and the safe evacuation of dead and wounded Turkish troops to Turkey was ensured. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation emphasized that aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces was not used in this area.
* – Terrorist organization banned in Russia.