MOSCOW, February 19. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has held a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the situation in Syria. Special emphasis was placed on ways of enhancing Astana format cooperation, the Kremlin’s press-service said.

"In discussing the situation in Syria special attention was paid to ways of further enhancing cooperation in the Astana format. The readiness was confirmed for tight coordination of efforts by Russia, Turkey and Iran for the sake of achieving effective operation of the de-escalation zones and advancing the political process in line with the agreements achieved by the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi," the Kremlin’s press-service said.

Putin and Erdogan touched upon the situation in northwestern Syria, including the Turkish military operation near Afrin.

Also, they noted "positive trends in Russian-Turkish cooperation" and agreed on a number of contacts at different levels in the near future.