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Putin, Erdogan to hold phone talks on evening of February 21, Kremlin confirms

The Turkish leader plans to discuss Idlib during the call, according to his statement for CNN Turk TV channel

MOSCOW, February 21. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan will have a telephone conversation on the evening of February 21, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov informed TASS.

"Yes, I confirm the telephone conversation. It is planned this evening," he said, commenting on the Turkish president’s statement regarding plans to hold talks with Putin at 6 pm Moscow time on Friday.

Erdogan earlier told CNN Turk TV channel that he planned to hold a phone call with the Russian president to discuss the situation in Syria’s Idlib.

"Putin and I will hold talks over the phone today at 18:00 [same as Moscow time — TASS], which will form Turkey’s position on Syria’s Idlib," Erdogan said.

According to the Turkish president, "the current events in Idlib can only be considered war." He added that 150 Syrian soldiers were killed when the Turkish Armed Forces were forced to return fire.

The Turkish president revealed that French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel offered Putin to hold a four-party summit on Syria on March 5 in Istanbul. However, according to Erdogan, the Russian leader has not given his consent yet.