BALADI NEWS
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Thursday reaching a ceasefire agreement in Idlib province, after a meeting that lasted 6 hours in Moscow.
In a press conference after the meeting, the two leaders confirmed that the ceasefire will start at midnight, Thursday, March 6, stressing on the need to preserve Syria's sovereignty.
"Today, we confirmed the interest of our countries in continuing to work together in the framework of the Astana format," Vladimir Putin said.
He expressed the urgent need for a ceasefire, protecting civilians, and delivering humanitarian aid for the displaced people.
Turkish President said that during our 6-hour meeting the two leaders discussed recent developments in Idlib, "There were points of agreement and points of difference between us, also there was an escalation aimed at putting Turkey in the corner, but Turkey is not the party that watches silently," he pointed out.
"During the last escalation, we were keen to be in direct contact with the Russian forces in north Syria," Erdogan added, expressing Turkey's desire to reach a ceasefire agreement.
"The cease-fire will be effective as of 00.01 a.m. tonight," Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters, stressing that Turkey reserved its right to respond to any attack by Syrian regime during the process.
In his part, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov pointed out that the two countries agreed on establishing a safe corridor in Idlib.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited today, Thursday, March 5, 2020, the Russian capital Moscow to mee his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and discuss the bilateral relations in addition to the latest developments in the Syrian province of Idlib following the latest escalation between Turkey and Syrian regime.