Putin: Fateful Agreements Reached with Turkey

Turkish and Russian presidents Recep Erdogan and Vladimir Putin agreed in Sochi that Turkey and Russia will jointly control the Syrian-Turkish border east of the Euphrates River. According to the agreement, the text of which was read out by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Turkish troops will control the part of the 30-kilometer zone near the border that was under their control as a result of the operation launched by Turkey in northern Syria 2 weeks ago. The Russian military police will be introduced into the remaining parts of the 30-kilometer zone, and Kurdish armed forces will have to leave this zone. After that, a joint Russian-Turkish patrol at the border will begin. Erdogan visited Sochion Tuesday, where he held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Negotiations lasted six hours, their main topic was the Turkish military operation in northern Syria. According to Putin, during the negotiations, the parties managed to develop a joint approach to normalizing the situation in northern Syria. The Russian president called the decisions “very important, if not fateful”. According to Erdogan, part of the Syrian refugees who are now in Turkey can be accommodatedin the so-called “security zone” on the territory of Syria near the border with Turkey. Turkey launched an operation against Kurdish armed forces in northern Syriatwo weeks ago. A 5-day truce is ending today, which began after Erdogan’s meeting with US Vice President Mike Pence. On Tuesday, the leadership of the Syrian Kurds reported that they had withdrawn their troops from the 30-kilometer zone near the border with Turkey. This was one of the conditions for Turkey to cease operation. After its beginning American troops in Syria left areas adjacent to the Turkish border, and troops of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, supported by Russia, entered part of the Kurdish-controlled areas. Radio Liberty