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Russia, Turkey preparing new series of consultations on Idlib - Lavrov

Russia’s top diplomat noted that the Turkish military in Idlib understands that the fighting in the de-escalation zone is against terrorists

© Sergei Savostyanov/TASS

MOSCOW, February 24. /TASS/. Moscow and Ankara are preparing a new series of consultations on the situation in Syria’s Idlib, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference on Monday.

"Another series of consultations is now being prepared and we hope it will help us reach an agreement on how to ensure that this really becomes a de-escalation zone and terrorists don’t boss around there," Lavrov said.

Russia’s top diplomat noted that the Turkish military in Idlib understands that the fighting in the de-escalation zone is against terrorists. "No one has ever agreed in the framework of the achieved deals between the Russian and Turkish presidents that retaliatory strikes won’t be delivered on terrorists should they try to act as they are doing now," Lavrov stressed.

"I’m sure that the Turkish military working "on the ground" sees and understands this very well. Moreover, terrorists have attacked our positions and the positions of Syrian troops many times as well as Syrian civilian facilities from the area where Turkey’s observation points are located," he noted.

The situation in Idlib deteriorated dramatically after Russian and Turkish militaries attempted to enforce another ceasefire. Instead, terrorists stepped up their attacks. Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared that Ankara was ready to use all of its military might in case of an operation in Idlib. He added that such an operation was only a matter of time as all preparations for it had been completed.

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