Erdogan to Putin: We Need a Ceasefire in Syria’s Idlib

• 05.31.2019, 16:08
•  EEU,  Near East,  World

The Moscow Times

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin late on Thursday that a ceasefire in Syria’s Idlib must be implemented to prevent more civilian deaths and a refugee influx to Turkey, Erdogan’s office said in a statement.

Erdogan told Putin over the phone that Syria needed a political solution, the statement said.

The Kremlin, in its own statement on the Putin-Erdogan phone call, which was published on its official website, struck a different tone, however, making it clear it believed some fighting had to continue, underlining tensions between Moscow and Ankara over the issue.

“The importance of intensifying our joint work to stabilize Idlib province was noted, including the taking of effective measures to neutralize terrorist groups,” the Kremlin said in the statement, according to Al Arabiya.