Russia Supports Dialogue Between Syrian Authorities, Kurds - Putin

Russia endorses dialogue between the Syrian government and the Kurdish official representatives, Russian President Vladimir Putin said following talks with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd January, 2019) Russia endorses dialogue between the Syrian government and the Kurdish official representatives, Russian President Vladimir Putin said following talks with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday.

"In this context, we support the dialogue between Damascus and the official representatives of the Kurds. This dialogue will essentially help to stabilize the society of Syria, but will also help ... all of the states surrounding it," Putin said at a joint press conference with Erdogan.

In early December, Erdogan announced that Ankara was ready to launch a military operation against Kurdish militias � which it considers to be terrorist groups � on the eastern bank of the Euphrates as well as in Syria's Manbij, located near the Turkish border, if the United States did not facilitate the pullout of the militia from the region.

Erdogan later said that the operation had been postponed following his December 14 phone conversation with US President Donald Trump, who later announced plans to withdraw US troops from Syria.