Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has expressed confidence that the Moscow talks on the situation in Idlib province are very important for the region, TASS reported.

"We were to hold this meeting in Turkey. However, because of your work on the amendments to the Constitution, we decided to accept your invitation and come here. Of course, today’s meeting on Idlib is of great importance, because the situation in the region is very tense. I know that the world is closely following our negotiations today. I believe that our decisions and steps, which will be agreed on today, will ease the situation in Idlib," he said.

The focus of the talks between Putin and Erdogan is the situation in the de-escalation zone in Idlib. As Russian President’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters earlier, the Kremlin expects leaders to come to a common understanding of the causes and consequences of the Idlib crisis, as well as "a set of measures to end it." According to Peskov, Moscow stands for the territorial integrity of Syria and supports Damascus in the fight against terrorism, while maintaining a commitment to the Sochi accords and attaching "much importance on cooperation with our Turkish counterparts."

Relations between Russia and Turkey

According to him, relations between Turkey and Russia are at a peak and his goal is to strengthen those ties. Russia backs Syrian government forces in the Syrian conflict, while Turkey backs rebels fighting them.

Russia announced in September 2017 the conclusion of a deal with Turkey for the supply of S-400 worth $ 2.5 billion. The first deliveries began on July 12, 2019.

The launch ceremony of the TurkStream gas pipeline was held in January 2020.

By the way, Russian companies are building the first Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Turkey.