PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY: Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed the agreement on Syrian Idlib and agreed on further steps aimed at the creation of a demilitarized zone there during their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Sunday.
"It was noted that, despite the active, consistent actions of our Turkish colleagues, still not all extremists obeyed the demand to leave the 20-kilometer [12-mile] demilitarized strip. They agreed on further steps to respect the agreement on creating such a demilitarized strip, but at the same time measures to prevent extremists from attempts to sabotage this important agreement, which everyone welcomed," Lavrov told the Rossiya 1 broadcaster.
On September 17, Putin and Erdogan agreed at talks in Sochi to set up a demilitarized zone in Idlib along the contact line of the armed opposition and the government forces by October 15. The withdrawal of heavy weaponry operated by the militants is also part of the agreement.
However, the creation of the demilitarized zone is still not completed, as terrorists continue provocations.