Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov revealed that Moscow and Ankara are in close coordination over the Syria operation, as to ensure the protection of their respective militaries in the Arab Republic. Russia’s top diplomat revealed a chain of telephone calls between Presidents Erdogan and Vladimir Putin, followed by his own conversations with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, saying that what he called a “deconflicting channel, a regular communication channel” was in place. Lavrov also said that the Kremlin is “interested in the soonest settlement of the situation, primarily on the basis of respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic.”
The Russian Minister added that “We understand a concern of the Republic of Turkey for the security of its borders, at the same time, we emphasize the need to regulate these concerns within the framework of the agreements that exist between Damascus and Ankara, the Adana agreement of 1998.”
Despite coordination between Ankara and Moscow, the Russian-backed Damascus government of President Bashar al-Assad, announced it would not accept the illegal invasion of Syrian soil by any foreign forces. In what appears to be a reconciliatory signal to the SDF, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad declared the Syrian military’s readiness to confront all challenges facing Syria.