Russia and Turkey reach deal on northern Syria after US brokered ceasefire expired. Russia and Turkey are on opposite sides of the war in Syria. Moscow backs the Syrian president, while Ankara supports opposition rebels who want to remove Bashar Al Assad.
However, the two sides have been working more closely in recent months. On Tuesday, Presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave Kurdish fighters six days to retreat from the Syrian-Turkish border. They reached the agreement just before the end of a US-brokered ceasefire that halted Turkey’s military offensive in the region. As Washington pulls back from the region, is Russia becoming the new power-broker? And what are the implications for the wider Middle East?
