Russia, Turkey discuss new agreements on Syria
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – On Wednesday, Turkey announced that it is working on new agreements with Russia regarding the situation in Syria.
This was stated by Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu in a press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov Wednesday in Antalya Province, southwest Turkey.
Cavusoglu indicated that the two countries “will continue to work for peace and the political process in Syria.”
“Besides bilateral relations, there are regional issues that we are working on. We discussed the developments in Syria and Libya,” he added.
“Our aim is to maintain stability and peace in these regions,” he explained.
The holding of this conference conincides with the approaching date of the vote in the Security Council regarding the mechanism for delivering humanitarian aid to Syria across the border and the possibility of Russia using its veto to extend the period of the entry of humaniterain aid throgh the only crossing to Syria.
Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov said “there is an agreement between both sides to activate the Idlib agreement, which stipulates the formation of a demilitarized zone.”
The two parties did not provide any details regarding the agreement, which they called a “demilitarized zone.”
Lavrov stressed the Russian objection to a new draft resolution put forward in the UN Security Council on opening a second corridor for cross-border aid transportation to Syria.
He also referred to “the ways to continue the Astana talks and solve the Syrian crisis.”
The de-escalation zone has been witnessing military escalation and mutual bombing between Syrian government forces and Turkish-backed armed groups despite the entry into force of the ceasefire agreement signed between Russia and Turkey in March 2020.
The agreement stipulated the cessation of military operations and the conduct of joint military patrols between the two parties, but this agreement was not implemented on the ground.
On August 13, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that it had suspended joint patrols with Turkish forces in Idlib on the M4 Highway due to what it described at the time as “provocations by the armed groups.”