Putin-Erdogan Meeting in Sochi

Turkey and Russia have agreed to a ‘historic’ settlement intended at keeping Kurdish militia away from Syria's northern border with Turkey.

The meeting came during a break in Turkey's offensive to expel the Kurdish forces while forming a "safe zone" in the area.

According to the new deal, Syrian and Russian forces will supervise the withdrawal of the Kurdish forces.

There is no comment yet from the Kurdish fighters, whom Turkey deems as terrorists. The deal includes procedures for combined Turkish-Russian patrols along the border and was made after six hours of talks on Tuesday between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian host, Vladimir Putin, in Sochi.

An armistice brokered by the US was set to expire on Tuesday evening and Turkey had lurked to re-instigate its offensive against the Kurdish fighters.

The Turkish offensive began after the US publicized a rapid and unexpected withdrawal of its fighters from northern Syria. The US troops had been accompanying the Kurdish fighters, who have been supporters in the battle against the Islamic State (ISIS).

By Beka Alexishvili