MOSCOW, March 2. /TASS/. The Russian and Turkish presidents, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will meet in Moscow on March 5, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.
"Indeed, the president of the Republic of Turkey will arrive in Moscow for a working visit on March 5 where he is scheduled to hold talks with our president," Peskov said.
Speaking on the stance at the upcoming talks between the Russian and Turkish presidents, Peskov stressed that Moscow was committed to the Sochi agreements and called for Syria’s territorial integrity. Russia "supports Syria’s intention to continue fight against terrorists and terror groups, including those placed on the UN Security Council’s terror groups’ list, and certainly attaches great importance to cooperating with Turkish partners."
Russia’s position at the upcoming talks will be absolutely consistent and will remain unchanged, he stressed. "This stance was outlined at various levels by President Putin, Foreign Minister [Sergey Lavrov] and also an interdepartmental working group and an interdepartmental delegation that has been working with Turkish colleagues over the past days," Peskov said.
The Kremlin spokesman highlighted that Russia’s military and specialists should analyze the particular situation on the ground in Idlib. "We proceed from yesterday’s statement by our military from the task force in Syria that it was impossible to guarantee safety of flights over Idlib," Peskov said.
The Russian and Turkish militaries have maintained a permanent contact, the Kremlin spokesman said. "It is most important that now we are guided by the talks between Putin and Erdogan, which we have just mentioned," he noted.
The Russian and Turkish leaders held a phone conversation on February 28, stressing the need to take extra measures to normalize the situation in northwestern Syria. The Kremlin press service stressed that the sides had agreed to step up consultations and consider the opportunity of holding a high-level meeting.