The fighting in Idlib has stopped

1 Syria

On Friday, 00:01 by Moscow time, a ceasefire regime entered into force in the Idlib de-escalation zone. The agreement was reached on Thursday, by the presidents of Russia and Turkey, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This was announced on Thursday, by the Turkish president, during a press conference with the Russian leader in Moscow. “We will introduce a ceasefire as soon as possible. After that, we will discuss the further steps” — Erdogan underlined. He added that «Turkey reserves the right to respond to any attacks of the Syrian forces.»

2 Russia — Turkey — Syria

The negotiations between the presidents of Russia and Turkey, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, lasted for about 6 hours. They were planned for 4 hours. At the request of Erdogan, the negotiations began face to face. Then, the members of the delegations of the two countries took part in the negotiations. «After the talks, both countries found an acceptable solution to the problem of escalation in the Syrian Idlib» — Vladimir Putin stated. The interest of Russia and Turkey in the continuation of the cooperation within the framework of the ‘Astana format’ was confirmed. Moscow and Ankara have expressed their commitment to the sovereignty of Syria, and the determination to destroy all the terrorist groups. It was also reported about the start of the joint patrolling of the M4 highway in Syria by Russia and Turkey, starting from 15th of March. It was reported that Vladimir Putin will inform the President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, about the results of the negotiations with the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

3 Syria

«The situation in the Syrian city of Sarakib is calm. The parties are observing the ceasefire regime that started since midnight» — the RIA NEWS reports. An hour before the Russian-Turkish agreements came into force — the M5 ‘Damascus-Aleppo’ highway was subjected to an intense artillery shelling by the terrorists. While the negotiations were still on-going in Moscow — the terrorists carried out a massive attack in the Sarakib area. The main blow fell on the settlement of Dadikh, which is located along the M5 highway. The terrorists tried to cut off the strategically important highway, and advance to the city. The Syrian government forces used heavy artillery fire and repelled all the attacks. They forced the terrorists to retreat deep into their occupied territories.

4 Syria

The Syrian TV channel ‘Al-Ekhbariya’ reports, while citing a source in the Syrian Command, that the government forces inflicted a crushing defeat on the terrorists during the battles near the city of Sarakib, in the province of Idlib. It was reported that during the repelling of the terrorist counterattacks, and during the offensive operations, in 2 weeks the Syrian troops killed more than 6,000 of terrorists from ‘Jebhat al-Nusra’ and other extremist groups. At least 2,500 terrorists were injured. 615 units of armored and military vehicles were disabled.

5 Croatia

The Greek Foreign Minister, Nikos Dendias, announced during an informal meeting of the EU Foreign Ministers in Zagreb that the EU has all the evidence that Turkey isn’t sending refugees from the Syrian Idlib to the border with Greece. Instead Turkey sends the migrants that have long since lived in the country. “We have all the evidence that this movement was created and organized by Turkey. And I’ll say firmly that the EU will not allow the human suffering to be used for their own purposes» — the Greek Foreign Minister stated. Earlier the ‘Reuters’ reported, with a reference to a Turkish official, that Ankara decided to not stop the Syrian refugees who are trying to get to Europe by sea or land.

6 the USA — Russia

The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, confirmed that he will arrive to Moscow in order to celebrate the ‘Victory Day’, despite the spread of the Coronavirus. He mentioned it during an interview to the TASS. «At the moment, all the plans remain valid» — he explained. The Secretary General expressed his opinion that the pandemics could be avoided if the countries work together, and in a coordination with the World Health Organization. Constantine Reztsov, specially for ANNA NEWS.