Putin: conditions are in place to end the war in Syria
Conditions have been created in Syria allowing for the end of the war, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the TV channel Russia-24 reports.
“The necessary conditions have been created for putting an end to the fratricidal war in Syria, completely destroying terrorists and allowing Syrians to return to peaceful life," said Putin.
He said that the earlier decisions on creating "de-escalation zones" in Syria created the conditions for the return of refugees, as well as "stepping up the search for a long-term political settlement in Geneva under the auspices of the UN."
The creation of four zones of de-escalation in Syria, Russia, Turkey and Iran was agreed to at talks in Astana, which were held in mid-September.
"I consider these agreements to be our shared, extremely important success and the success of our friend, Mr. Erdogan, because he is one of the initiators of this process," Putin said.
The de-escalation zones will be established in the north of Homs province, in Idlib, East Ghouta and parts of Latakia, Hama and Aleppo.
Earlier, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu spoke of the de facto end of the civil war in Syria in August.