Top Turkish, Russian diplomats hold ‘positive’ talks on Idlib

Turkish foreign minister on Saturday said his meeting with Russian counterpart was "positive" and a delegation-level meeting between the two countries will be held in Moscow on Monday.

"Had a positive meeting with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of Russian Federation. Our delegations will continue meeting in Moscow this Monday," said Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Twitter.

"Agreed on making an evaluation after these meetings," he added.

A Turkish delegation will visit Russia next week to hold talks on clashes in Idlib, Syria, Turkey's foreign minister said early Saturday.

Lavrov, for his part, said Turkey and Russia have "very good relations" but that does not mean they have to agree on everything.

"Full agreement on all issues cannot be possible between any two countries," the Russian foreign minister said at the Munich Security Conference.

He said that there is a need to separate opposition in Syria from terrorists.

"The task [to separate opposition from terrorists] is difficult but contacts between Russia and Turkey at the expert level -- between diplomats, military, security services -- are aiming to find ways to implement the agreements on Idlib. The next round [of talks] will take place next week," Lavrov added.

In September 2018, Turkey and Russia agreed to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.

But more than 1,800 civilians have been killed in attacks by regime and Russian forces since then, flouting both the 2018 cease-fire and a new one that started on Jan. 12.