Moscow urges Ankara to show restraint in Syria

Moscow urges Ankara to show restraint in Syria
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"We hope to convince our Turkish partners to refrain from using excessive force on Syrian territory," Alexander Lavrentyev, special envoy of the Russian president for Syria said

Moscow calls on Ankara to exercise restraint in light of the strikes on Syrian territory, and tensions cannot be allowed to escalate, said Alexander Lavrentyev, special envoy of the Russian president for Syria, Russian news agency Ria Rovosti reported.

"We will call on our Turkish colleagues to show certain restraint in order to prevent an escalation of tension, not only in the northern and northeastern regions of Syria, but throughout the entire territory," Lavrentiev said at the beginning of the 19th round of negotiations on the Syrian settlement in Astana

Lavrentyev said Turkey had not notified Russia in advance about its strikes on Syria and Iraq.

"We hope to convince our Turkish partners to refrain from using excessive force on Syrian territory," Lavrentyev said. He added that Russia would work with interested parties to find a peaceful solution to the "Kurdish issue".

Lavrentyev also said that the withdrawal of a U.S. contingent from the northeast of Syria would contribute to the "stabilisation" of the situation.

Moscow believes that there is a need "to address the increased activities of terrorist groups" in Syria, Russian Special Presidential Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev told reporters.

"We will consider the current security situation. Terrorist organizations have stepped up their activities in the country, it’s not just about the so-called IS (the Islamic State terror group outlawed in Russia - TASS), but also about others, be it in central Syria, in the country’s south, <...> in Idlib and in the northeast, beyond the Euphrates River," he said.

"We believe that it’s important to consider the issue and agree on further actions in this regard in order to ensure a sustainable ceasefire in certain areas because a nationwide ceasefire in Syria, which is often called for, is hardly achievable under the current conditions, given the increased activities of terrorist groups," Lavrentyev emphasized.

Meanwhile, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) a UK based watchdog on Syrian civil war, reported Russian military reinforcement of 25 military vehicles arriving at Sarin base in the southern and western countryside of Kobane, where Turkey’s fierce shelling continued.

According to SOHR sources, Russian fighter jets flew over frontlines between SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) Turkish forces and their proxies.