EU Foreign Ministers To Discuss Situation In Syria's Idlib On February 17

The foreign ministers of the European Union member states will discuss the situation in Syria in the wake of developments in Idlib province at the next meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council on February 17, according to a preparatory document for the talks

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th February, 2020) The foreign ministers of the European Union member states will discuss the situation in Syria in the wake of developments in Idlib province at the next meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council on February 17, according to a preparatory document for the talks.

The meeting will be chaired by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Joseph Borrell.

"The High Representative will raise the unfolding crisis in North West Syria, where a military offensive by the Syrian regime and its allies resulted in a humanitarian crisis, and risks undermining the wider regional stability," the document read.

Tensions in Idlib, one of four de-escalation zones in Syria, intensified on February 3 after the Turkish Defense Ministry accused the Syrian government troops of attacking one of its observation posts in the province. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged to take retaliatory measures if Syria's armed forces failed to stop their operation in the zone and withdraw from the areas close to Turkey's observation posts by the end of February. In addition, Erdogan said he had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to pressure the Syrian government into stopping the offensive so that terrorists could be expelled from Idlib.