简体中文
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday talked over the phone about a cease-fire in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, said the Syrian Presidency Media Office.
Assad was informed of the talks between Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that resulted in the cease-fire in Idlib the previous day, said the office.
Assad expressed relief about what the Russian leadership has achieved in the meeting in Moscow, adding that the deal with Turkey could positively reverberate on the humanitarian, social and economic situation of the Syrians.
Both leaders also agreed that the current deals could pave the way for launching a political process in Syria.
Russia and Turkey agreed on a cease-fire in the de-escalation zone in Idlib on Thursday, after talks between Putin and Erdogan which lasted for about six hours.
The cease-fire went into effect at 00:01 a.m. local time on Friday (2201 GMT Thursday), according to the protocol read after the talks by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
The agreement comes after direct confrontation between Turkey and Syrian forces which took place several times in Idlib over the past two months since the Syrian forces launched a campaign against the Turkey-backed rebel groups in Idlib.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
