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Will Russia be able to snatch a diplomatic solution from Ankara, a week after the outbreak of the Turkish offensive against the Kurds of Syria? This is obviously the intention of the Kremlin. Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation late yesterday, Tuesday evening, with Reccep Tayyip Erdogan. He proposed to the Turkish president to come to Moscow in the "next few days". Will Vladimir Putin want to play the referees in the Syrian conflict?
with our correspondent in Moscow, Daniel Vallot
Vladimir Putin's proposal for a meeting with his Turkish counterpart testifies to Moscow's willingness to play the middlemen between Ankara and Damascus. With, as a big goal, getting an agreement on border control.
The idea of Russia is that it is the Syrian regime and not the Kurdish forces that control the borders of this border - it would allow Turkey to withdraw its troops. A first part of this mechanism has already been put in place: it is the agreement concluded between Damascus and the Kurds of Syria - Moscow must now play the intermediaries between Bashar al-Assad and Reccep Tayip Erdogan.
Moscow does not want a direct confrontation
This is all the more important as Russia wants to avoid any direct confrontation between the Syrian army and the Turkish army because there is a disaster scenario for Russia in the current configuration: an open conflict between the Syrian army and the Turkey ... Why? Because then Moscow would be forced to choose between his ally Bashar al-Assad and a country, Turkey, she wants to spare, and wants to move away from NATO.
The risk was avoided in Manbij since the Turks did not oppose the entry of Syrian troops into the city. But this risk still exists. And if Russia has everything to gain in the current situation as it has the means to play referees while strengthening its Syrian ally, it can also lose everything by letting lead into a conflict that would be extremely dangerous for her ...