Russian and Turkish military patrol the Syrian Aleppo-Latakia highway. File photoNUR-SULTAN, June 16The Russian Federation is not going to fight Turkish troops and Syrian groups supported by Ankara in the light of Ankara's planned operation in northern Syria, but will try to convince the Turkish side of the inexpediency of such a step, Alexander Lavrentiev, special representative of the President of the Russian Federation for the Syrian settlement, said in an interview with RIA Novosti. «Russia is not going to fight Turkish troops and the Syrian national army, which is under the wing of Ankara. We have no combat units there. Our answer is to try to convince the Turks of the inexpediency of this step. They can occupy the territory, but it is difficult to predict what the consequences will be for the further development of the situation «, Lavrentyev said.
Turkish media reported that Russia did not approve the operation in northern SyriaEarlier, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said that the armed forces would launch anti-terrorist operations on the country's borders, and a decision would be made on this soon. According to media reports, the operations will take place in four regions of Syria. During his visit to Ankara on June 8, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed the situation in Syria with his Turkish counterpart. The day before, the defense ministers of the two countries, Sergei Shoigu and Hulusi Akar, had a conversation. Damascus repeatedly called the presence of Turkish forces in the border area of Syria, which carry out operations against Kurdish formations, illegal and called on Ankara to withdraw troops. With the support of the US military, the Kurdish-Arab formations of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is based on the YPG (Kurdistan Workers' Party), control most of the Syrian provinces of Al-Hasakah and Raqqa, as well as some settlements in the provinces of Aleppo and Deir ez- Zor. In particular, most of the quarters in the cities of Al-Hasakah and Qamishli are under their control. Official Damascus does not recognize an autonomous administration in the north-east of Syria.
