During a meeting on Thursday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin to continue working on a solution in Syria’s Idlib, where violence has recently risen.
Last year, Turkey and Russia agreed on a truce in Syria’s Idlib region to end a Russian and Syrian army attack on Turkey-backed fighters.
Although the ceasefire has averted a major military escalation, opposition fighters believe Russia has increased air raids around Idlib in recent weeks.
Erdogan would press Putin for a restoration to a ceasefire, Turkish officials indicated before of the meeting.
Speaking to reporters on the flight back from the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Erdogan said he had discussed finding a “lasting, final and sustainable” solution to the situation in Syria.
Broadcaster NTV quoted him as saying Turkey was open to “any realistic and fair step” regarding the issue.
Erdogan did not provide specifics on the Idlib conversation, but according to NTV, he stated that Ankara and Moscow had collaborated to resolve concerns that have arisen in Idlib.
“We said, let’s make an attempt to address issues, particularly through phone diplomacy at the level of leaders (and), aside from that, collaborative cooperation between our foreign and defense ministers, and our intelligence agencies in the following process,” he was reported as adding.
He went on to say that Turkey had kept its half of the bargain and that Russia would do the same.
After the talks, neither leader made any lengthy statements to the media, while Putin congratulated Erdogan for his “useful and substantive” visit.