BOCHAROV RUCHEY (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd October, 2019) Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not discuss a timeline for Turkey's military presence in northeast Syria during their marathon six-hour talks in Sochi, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, the two presidents adopted a memorandum to resolve the situation on the Syrian-Turkish border. Under the document, Russian military police and Syrian border guards will facilitate the withdrawal of Kurdish militia from a 30-kilometer (18-mile) zone on the border within 150 hours starting from Wednesday. Afterward, the Russian and Turkish forces will begin jointly patrolling the area to the west and the east of Ankara's operation, except for the border city of Qamishli. The status quo in the area of the Turkish offensive between the towns of Tal Abiad and Ras al-Ain is also preserved.
"This issue was not discussed. Today, the main task was to get out of the crisis situation and stop the fighting," Shoigu told reporters, when asked whether the sides discussed Turkey's potential pullout from the area.
Turkey launched its offensive against Kurdish militias, viewed by Ankara as terrorists, on October 9 after its talks with the United States on a "safe zone" in the border area collapsed. The Turkish military operation has faced widespread condemnation from across the globe, with Damascus slamming it as a violation of its sovereignty and deploying troops to the northeast of the Arab republic to help Kurds repel the offensive.
Following the Sochi talks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the new memorandum de facto stipulated an end to Turkey's operation Peace Spring. He, however, stressed that much would depend on the future withdrawal of Kurdish militia from the border area.
