Putin, Erdogan sit down for talks on war-torn Syria

MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks successful the Black Sea edifice of Sochi connected Wednesday.

It was the archetypal in-person gathering for Putin successful implicit 2 weeks. On Sept. 14, the Russian president went into self-isolation aft a unit subordinate helium worked successful adjacent interaction with contracted coronavirus. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed to reporters that the two-week self-isolation ended for Putin connected Wednesday.

As the 2 leaders sat down for talks, Putin pointed retired that relations betwixt the 2 countries “develop positively.”

“Negotiations are sometimes difficult, but with a affirmative last result. Our (government) bodies person learned to find compromises that are beneficial to some sides," Putin said.

Erdogan echoed that sentiment and said helium believed "there is large payment successful continuing our Turkish-Russian relations by strengthening them each day.”

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The 2 leaders are mostly expected to ore connected the concern successful Syria during their gathering successful Sochi.

Russia is the main state of the Syrian authorities portion Turkey supports groups that person fought to unseat Syrian President Bashar Assad. However, Russian and Turkish troops person cooperated successful Idlib, the last holdout of rebel forces, and successful seeking a governmental solution successful the war-torn country.

Erdogan told Putin connected Wednesday that “the steps we instrumentality unneurotic successful narration to Syria are of large importance."

“Peace (in Syria) depends connected the relations betwixt Turkey and Russia,” the Turkish person noted.

The talks betwixt the 2 presidents travel amid an summation successful airstrikes connected Turkey-backed absorption fighters’ positions successful bluish Syria and particularly successful the state of Idlib.

Last year, Turkey and Russia reached a cease-fire statement which halted a three-month Syrian authorities violative successful Idlib and besides saw uncommon nonstop warring betwixt Syrian and Turkish troops. That Russia-backed violative killed hundreds of civilians and displaced astir 1 cardinal radical successful Idlib province.

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Turkey fears that an escalation of the unit successful bluish Syria volition pb to a caller influx of refugees surging crossed its borders. Turkey already hosts 3.7 cardinal Syrian refugees. For its part, Russia accuses Turkey of failing to instrumentality measures to propulsion retired extremist groups from bluish Syria.

Earlier this month, Putin met with Assad successful Moscow and criticized the beingness of Turkish and U.S. forces successful bluish Syria, calling their beingness amerciable and a flagrant usurpation of planetary law. The Russian person was referring to hundreds of U.S. troops stationed successful eastbound Syria and moving with Kurdish-led fighters successful battling the militant Islamic State group, arsenic good arsenic Turkish forces successful bluish Syria.

The warfare successful Syria broke retired successful March 2011. It has near hundreds of thousands dormant and displaced fractional the country’s pre-war colonisation of 23 cardinal people, including much than 5 cardinal refugees extracurricular the war-torn nation.

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Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey.

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