Russia fulfills obligation to move Kurds 30 kilometers from Syrian-Turkish border - General Staff chief
MOSCOW. Dec 18 (Interfax) - Russia has fulfilled the obligation to move Kurdish militia units 30 kilometers from the Syrian-Turkish border, Russian General Staff Chief Valery Gerasimov said at a meeting with foreign military attaches.
"Kurdish militia has been moved 30 kilometers from the Syrian-Turkish border, and Syrian border guards and Russian military police have been deployed to the Kobane and al-Jazira areas," the Russian Defense Ministry's newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda quoted Gerasimov as saying.
Joint Russian-Turkish patrols have been arranged, and the joint coordination center commenced operation on November 3, Gerasimov said.
"The implementation of the agreements reached by the presidents of Russia and Turkey in Sochi on October 22, 2019, has allowed to stabilize the situation in northeastern Syria," he said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on December 15 that the United States and Russia had failed to withdraw Kurdish militia from Manbij.