Turkey & Russia ministers to talk Syria as Damascus claims its troops entered Kurdish-held Manbij
Top diplomatic and military officials from Russia and Turkey are meeting in Moscow on Saturday to di..
Top diplomatic and military officials from Russia and Turkey are meeting in Moscow on Saturday to discuss developments in Syrias northeast, where Kurdish militias have sought Damascus protection from Ankara.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu are set for a face-to-face meeting with their Turkish counterparts Mevlut Cavusoglu and Hulusi Akar, who arrived in Moscow on Saturday. The Turkish delegation also includes presidential aide Ibrahim Kalin, as well as intelligence chief Hakan Fidan.
Few details are known about the upcoming talks, but the latest developments surrounding the Kurdish-held Syrian city of Manbij will obviously be on agenda. The Russo-Turkish discussions will serve to “ensure absolute clarity and synchronize expectations” about how events should unfold in that part of Syria, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists earlier on Friday.
Also on rt.com US helicopters spotted over Manbij as Turkish forces enter Syria (VIDEOS)
The talks are taking place on the heels of a Kurdish plea for help yesterday, as militias asked Damascus to take over the area around Manbij. The Kurds were effectively caught off-guard by the US withdrawal from Syria, leaving them vulnerable to a potential Turkish offensive.
The Syrian military later said its forces have “raised the flag” in the Kurdish-populated region, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was skeptical about the statement, saying it was a “psychological action.”
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