Russia Studying Possible Summit on Syria With Erdogan, Merkel and Macron

  • 2/21/2020
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Russia is studying the possibility of holding a summit on Syria with the presidents of Turkey, France and Germany, a Kremlin spokesman said on Friday. Dmitry Peskov made the announcement after the leaders of Germany and France called Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday to express their concern about the humanitarian situation in Syrias Idlib region, urging an end to the conflict there. "The possibility of holding a summit is being discussed. There any no firm decisions about it yet," he said. However, if all the four leaders "deem it necessary, we do not rule out the possibility of such a meeting," Peskov told reporters on a conference call. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke together by phone with the Russian leader while at a European Union summit in Brussels, Reuters reported. “Both made clear how much they are concerned by the catastrophic humanitarian situation of the people in the Syrian province Idlib,” a German spokesman said on Thursday. “Both demanded an instant end of the fighting and the possibility of humanitarian aid for the people,” a German spokesman said. For his part, as he arrived at the EU summit, Macron said: "For several weeks now, one of the worst humanitarian dramas has been unfolding.” Earlier, Ankara urged Syrias regime ally, Moscow, to stop the attacks in Idlib, saying the offensive was causing a migrant wave toward Turkey, which currently hosts 3.6 million Syrian refugees. According to Reuters, the Turkish president has previously said Turkey may use military force to drive back Syrian forces unless they pull back by the end of the month. The UN humanitarian affairs agency OCHA said the crisis had reached a horrifying level, with displaced people crammed into a small pocket of Idlib. “Places previously considered safe by civilians are now coming under fire,” it said in a report. The agency reiterated its appeal on Friday for a halt to the hostilities in the area, saying it feared that the "relentless" violence "may end in a bloodbath". Some 60% of the 900,000 people who have fled but are trapped in a shrinking space are children, OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke told a Geneva news briefing.

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