MOSCOW, November 22. /TASS/. Russia understands Turkey’s security concerns regarding the developments in Syria, but is calling on all parties involved to abstain from any destabilizing steps, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.
"We understand and respect Turkey’s concerns over the provision of its own security and believe that Turkey has that legitimate right," Peskov said at a news conference. "But, nonetheless, we are calling on all parties involved to refrain from taking steps that could result in a major destabilization of the situation in general. That could boomerang back and complicate things in the sphere of security further," he warned.
Commenting on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s claim that Russia allegedly failed to fulfil its commitments on Syria, the Kremlin spokesman said that Moscow and Ankara differed in their approaches to the implementation of the Sochi memorandum.
"Those differences have been repeatedly discussed by the two presidents. Thank God, [Russia’s] friendly and partnership relations with Turkey make it possible to discuss those differences in open and constructive ways," Peskov said.
Erdogan said earlier that Turkey had conducted air strikes on Syria and Iraq because of Russia’s failure to deliver on its promises to ensure the withdrawal of Kurdish units from the republic’s border.
On October 9, 2019, Ankara announced the launch of Operation Peace Spring in northern Syria aimed at creating a buffer zone to protect the Turkish border. On October 22, 2019, the presidents of Russia and Turkey held a meeting in Sochi, adopting a memorandum on joint actions to resolve the situation in northeastern Syria. In accordance with the document, on October 23, Russian military police officers and Syrian border guards were deployed to areas bordering the 30-kilometer-wide zone that was being set up by Turkey. On October 29, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said that the Kurds had completed the withdrawal of their armed units from the area, and Russian and Turkish troops launched a joint patrol mission east of the Euphrates River on November 1.