Photo credit: kremlin.ru
Important and crucial decisions to resolve the situation in Syria were made as a result of negotiations between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This was announced by the Russian leader after the meeting. Bilateral consultations lasted more than six hours on October 22 in Sochi, according to the Kremlin website.
Syria should be freed from illegal foreign military presence, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. According to the Russian leader, a lasting and stable situation in Syria can only be achieved if the sovereignty and territorial integrity are strictly respected. Putin emphasized that Ankara supported this approach.
Russia will continue to facilitate the return of Syrian refugees. This will make it possible to reduce the severity of the socio-economic burden of the countries which took in refugees. Turkey was the first among those countries, the president said.
Putin called on the international community, especially the UN, to provide humanitarian assistance to all Syrians who are returning home. He noted that it was necessary to get rid of discrimination, politicization and to abandon any preconditions.
According to Putin, the parties also discussed issues of bilateral relations, including cooperation in the military-technical sphere and large-scale cultural projects. The Russian leader recalled that the Cross Years of Culture and Tourism of the two countries were held with great success.
In turn, the Turkish president noted that the memorandum signed following the meeting would not allow separatist organizations to appear on Syrian territory.
According to the document, the Russian military police and the Syrian border services will facilitate the withdrawal of units of Kurdish self-defense units and their weapons 30 kilometers from the Syrian-Turkish border, after which Russian-Turkish patrols will begin at a depth of 10 kilometers from the border to the west and east of the Operation Source of Peace region.
Senator Konstantin Kosachev called the results of the negotiations between the two leaders "a triumph of diplomacy and the failure of a policy of threats and sanctions." According to him, the advantage of our country in comparison with the adherents of “sanctions diplomacy” is that Russia can negotiate and does not use its position to the detriment of other parties.
Russkiy Mir
