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Putin’s message to Erdogan is more constructive than Trump’s letter - Kremlin spokesman

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that Russia and Turkey continued to cooperate under the Sochi agreements

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, December 15. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s message to his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is more constructive than US President Donald Trump’s letter, Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with the Bolshaya Igra (Big Game) TV program on Russia’s Channel One.

"As far as I understand, there are certain frictions between Turkey and the United States and it is none of our business to discuss them. I would only like to say concerning this situation that President Putin’s message to Erdogan has an absolutely different nature that Trump’s notorious message to Erdogan the latter returned to the sender in Washington so delicately," he said.

"Putin approaches Erdogan with different messages, much more constructive ones," he said comparing the tones of Putin’s and Trump’s messages to the Turkish leader.

When asked about Russia’s cooperation with Turkey in Syria’s Idlib, the Kremlin spokesman noted that the two countries continued to cooperate under the Sochi agreements, despite the terrorist threats in the region.

After Turkey announced the launch of its Peace Spring operation in Syria on October 9, Trump wrote a letter to Erdogan calling on him to stop combat operation in Syria, to act in "the right and humane way," telling him, "Don’t be a tough guy. Don’t be a fool!"

On October 22, the Turkish leader arrived in Russia’s Sochi for talks with the Russian president about the situation in Syria. The sides agreed to pool efforts to settle the situation in northeastern Syria and adopted a memorandum, under which Russian military police and Syrian troops were deployed in regions bordering the zone of the Turkish operation. Kurdish united were given 150 hours to withdraw to a distance of 30 kilometers from the border with Turkey. This done, Russia and Turkey began joint patrol missions in Syrian territories ten kilometers off the border with Turkey.