Correspondent in Moscow
After six hours of discussions, half of which were one-on-one, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed on a ceasefire in Syria which was to take effect on Thursday midnight. Russian and Turkish leaders agreed to establish a six-kilometer " safety corridor " on either side of the M4 motorway, the strategic axis crossing the Idlib region, in northwestern Syria and to conduct joint patrols from March 15. The Russians and Turks also assured that they would make sure that humanitarian aid reaches the displaced people - about one million - in this province, the last rebel stronghold still in the grip of heavy fighting and where a catastrophic situation prevails for civilians.
Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan know each other by heart - it was evident on Thursday at the Kremlin, despite the tensions. Last year, they had met almost ten times, in various circumstances. At the end of August last, we saw them tasting an ice cream while visiting the great Moscow air show ...
We have made joint decisions in Idlib that should help end the fighting.
PutinSince then, the situation has seriously deteriorated. In recent weeks, the two partners have even appeared to be on the brink of direct confrontation in the strategic province of Idlib, in north-west Syria, and have been striking themselves there through their respective allies - the rebels ”supported by Ankara and the loyalist forces of Bashar al-Assad, supported at arm's length by Moscow.
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Thursday the agenda of these two "best enemies" - and virtuosos of the compromise - was clearly to reach a cease-fire . "We have made joint decisions in Idlib that should help end the fighting," said Putin after the meeting. However, in congratulating his interlocutor, Erdogan warned that Turkey will respond "with all its might" to any attack by the Syrian regime.
The Sochi agreement of 2018 violated
There was no lack of Russian grievances against Turkey. Moscow accuses Ankara of having violated the 2018 Sochi agreement on the Turkish military presence in a " security zone " in north-west Syria and of having launched attacks on its military bases. Moscow has not "sorted" between the "moderate" rebels and the jihadists. Turkey, it is deplored in Moscow, massively transferred to Idlib troops equivalent to a mechanized division. The measures announced Thursday are supposed to lead to a de-escalation - which will have to materialize over time ...
Read also: Erdogan past master of blackmail
Vladimir Putin was in a strong position on Thursday in the Kremlin during a tête-à-tête that lasted three hours, followed by extended discussions. To break its isolation, Recep Tayyip Erdogan wanted to put pressure on the Europeans and bring them to a big bargain by opening its borders to the refugees already present in Turkey - they are more than 3.5 million -, and who seek to join the shores from the EU. In vain, the Turkish president did not succeed, at least at this stage. Vladimir Putin has stuck to his traditional line - not to put the humanitarian crisis in the balance, even if the gravity of the situation may have prompted him to make a move. The Russian president had raised this dantesque situation - perhaps the worst in nine years of war - on Thursday morning on the phone with the president of the European Council, Charles Michel. The day before the summit, an American delegation was in Ankara with the aim of leading Turkey to take some distance, both with Moscow and Tehran - the other two pillars of the Astana group (Turkey, Iran, Russia), including Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan once again praised the merits on Thursday. The head of the Kremlin, invoking the tabling this week of his constitutional amendments, obtained that the summit takes place in Moscow rather than in Ankara and declined Erdogan's request to also invite Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel to a meeting "for four On Syria. "Russia wanted to play alone the role of security provider in the region, " notes a Western observer. "One of the important tasks for Moscow is to prevent the influence of the United States and Europe from growing in the evolution of the Syrian conflict , " said the daily Kommersant .