Un Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is aware of the negotiations held between Russia and Turkey on northern Syria and welcomes any effort to lower tensions in the region, United Nations spokesperson Farhan Haq said in a press briefing on Wednesday
UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd October, 2019) Un Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is aware of the negotiations held between Russia and Turkey on northern Syria and welcomes any effort to lower tensions in the region, United Nations spokesperson Farhan Haq said in a press briefing on Wednesday."We are aware of yesterday's discussions between the Russian Federation and Turkey and Turkey's announcement that, as they say, at this stage, there is no further need to conduct a new operation outside the present operation area," Haq said. "The Secretary General welcomes any effort to de-escalate the situation and protect civilians."
On Tuesday night, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed that Russian military police and Syrian border guards would facilitate the withdrawal of Kurdish militia from an 18-mile safe zone on the Syria-Turkey border within 150 hours starting.
Erdogan and US Vice President Mike Pence last week agreed on a five-day ceasefire to give the Kurdish militia time to pull back their troops from the Turkish border.
Earlier on Thursday, US President Donald Trump said that Turkey informed his administration that ceasefire in Syria would be permanent.
The diplomatic activity came after Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring in northern Syria on October 9 to clear the border area of Kurdish fighters and the remaining members of the Islamic State terror group (outlawed in Russia).
