MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th November, 2019) The Russia-Turkey memorandum on Syria is being implemented, with the Russian armed forces cooperating with the Syrian military in the region, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday.
"I want to stress once again that the memorandum approved by [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and President [of Turkey Recep Tayyip] Erdogan in Sochi is being implemented. Our military operates in a 30-kilometer [18-mile] strip off the Syria-Turkey border in close coordination with the Syrian Arab Republic's armed forces," Lavrov said during a press conference.
On October 9, Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring in northeastern Syria to clear the area of Kurdish units and the Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia). The United States and Turkey came to an agreement on October 17 to establish a 120-hour ceasefire to allow for the withdrawal of Kurdish fighters. As the five-day ceasefire came to an end, Erdogan and Putin reached a separate deal to pull the Kurdish fighters back and establish joint patrols in the operation zone along the Turkish border.
