Russia uses Idlib's stick with Erdogan before meeting Putin

In conjunction with Erdogan's visit to Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry warned in a statement that the situation in the "de-escalation" in the Syrian province of Idlib is rapidly deteriorating.

23 January, 2019 11:24

NEWS DESK

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet in the capital Moscow on Thursday amid deep disagreements over several issues, including Turkey's procrastination in implementing the Sochi agreement in Idlib.

As long as Russia used the carrot and stick policy with the Turks and threatened it with its mercenary in Idlib whenever their interests differed on the ground.

Erdogan is seeking to persuade his Russian counterpart to give him the green light on the so-called "buffer zone" which Russia is likely to refuse to set up.

Since the start of the Syrian crisis, Turkey has supported mercenary gangs and opened its borders to the entry of IS and Jabhat al-Nusra, as confirmed by the former US envoy to the Global Coalition, Brett McGurk, in an interview with CNN.

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