Russia's Lavrov calls for Syria-Turkey talks to resolve Afrin issue

MOSCOW – Reuters

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Feb. 20 that the situation in Syria's Afrin could be resolved through direct dialogue between Damascus and Ankara, the Interfax news agency cited him as saying.

Turkey-led forces will begin besieging the town in coming days, part of Ankara's operation to drive out the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Turkey views as a terrorist gorup President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said earlier on Feb. 20.

Erdoğan said the deployment of Syrian government troops in the region had been thwarted by Turkey after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.