MOSCOW, March 5. /TASS/. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan voiced confidence at a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Thursday that the Moscow talks on the situation in Syria’s Idlib province were very important for the region.
"We were to hold this meeting in Turkey. However, because of your work on the amendments to the Constitution, we decided to accept your invitation and come here. Of course, today’s meeting on Idlib is of great importance, because the situation in the region is very tense. I know that the world is closely following our negotiations today. I believe that our decisions and steps, which will be agreed on today, will ease the situation in Idlib," he said.
The focus of the Putin-Erdogan talks is on the situation in the Idlib de-escalation zone. According to Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin expects the two leaders to reach a common understanding of the causes and consequences of the Idlib crisis, as well as to figure out "a set of measures to end it." Peskov added that Moscow emphasized the need to preserve Syria’s territorial integrity, supported Damascus in the fight against terrorism and placed "much importance on cooperation with our Turkish counterparts.".