ISTANBUL: The Kremlin on Monday drew Turkey’s attention to a warning from the Russian Defence Ministry that Moscow could not guarantee the safety of Turkish planes flying in Syria after Damascus said it was closing the air space over the Idlib region.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan would hold talks on Syria in Moscow on Thursday.
Erdogan will visit Russia to discuss the mounting tensions in Syria, his office said earlier.
“The president is due to pay a one-day visit to Russia on March 5,” the Turkish presidency said in a statement.
Turkey confirmed on Sunday that it had launched a full military operation against Russian-backed Syrian forces following increasing clashes in the last rebel stronghold of Idlib.
Ankara, which backs militants in the province, killed 19 Syrian soldiers in drone strikes on Sunday, and downed two regime planes.
But it remains determined to avoid direct clashes with Moscow, with which it shares significant defense and trade ties.
Despite being on opposing sides of the conflict, Turkey and Russia have coordinated closely in the past.
They secured a deal in Sochi in 2018 that led to Turkey establishing 12 military observation posts in Idlib to prevent a Syrian offensive and a fresh flood of refugees into Turkish territory.
But Syria and Russia look increasingly determined to regain full control of the area and an offensive launched in December has displaced close to a million civilians, and seen increasing clashes between Turkish and Syrian forces.
The latest escalation followed the killing of 34 Turkish soldiers last week in an air strike blamed on Damascus.
