Kremlin: It's not time to talk about the worst-case scenarios in Syria's Idlib yet
Russia does not want to talk about the worst-case scenarios in the Syrian region of Greater Idlib (Idlib and Hama provinces, parts of Aleppo and Latakia provinces), said today, February 21, press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov, commenting on the possibility of clashes between Russia and Turkey in northwest Syria.
The Kremlin spokesman stressed that militant groups must be destroyed, no matter where they are in Syria. Russia is deeply concerned about the situation in Idlib but believes that Syrian government forces should continue to fight the terrorists, Peskov added.
According to Peskjov, a summit on Syria with the participation of Russia, Turkey, France and Germany is being discussed, but there are no clear solutions yet. The meeting may take place if all parties deem it necessary. "Once again, there are no concrete agreements on this issue yet," Peskov said.
The night before, February 20, Russian President Vladimir Putin held telephone talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French Pr4esident Emmanuel Macron. During the conversation, the sides expressed readiness to hold a joint meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to resolve the situation in Idlib.
On February 20, pro-Turkish militants launched several large-scale attacks using armored vehicles against the Syrian army near the town of Nayrab (Idlib province). The Turkish military supported the militants with artillery fire. They managed to break through the defenses of the Syrian Army. Russian air forces carried out airstrikes on advancing pro-Turkish fighters. This allowed Bashar al-Assad's forces to push the opposing forces back to their original positions.