Moscow (AFP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that they share "serious concern" over the volatile Syrian region of Idleb (north-west), Erdogan warning that Ankara will react if its soldiers are put in danger.

Meeting in Moscow, the two leaders said they wanted to work together to appease the situation in this border region of Turkey, one of the last not to be controlled by the Damascus regime.

After several months of intense bombing by Russian and Syrian aircraft, the soldiers of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad launched a ground offensive in early August, taking over several important localities.

The fighting could increase tensions between Tehran and Moscow on one side, which support Bashar al-Assad, and Ankara on the other, which supports the rebels.

"The situation in the Idleb de-escalation zone raises serious concerns both at home and with our Turkish partners," Putin said at a press conference with Erdogan on Russian state-run television.

Saying he "understands" Ankara's concerns for security at his border, Putin added that he had discussed with Mr. Erdogan "additional joint measures" to "normalize" the situation, without giving further details.

The Idleb region is supposed to be protected by an agreement on a "demilitarized zone", unveiled in September 2018 by Turkey and Russia to separate government areas from territories in the hands of jihadists and insurgents, but this agreement has not prevented the Syrian offensive.

Turkey has established 12 observation posts in the area but one of them was even surrounded last week by Syrian troops. A few days earlier, planes had bombed the vanguard of a large military convoy sent by Ankara to Idleb.

- "Our soldiers are in danger" -

"The situation has become so complicated that at the moment our soldiers are in danger, we do not want this to continue, we will take all the necessary measures," Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned, according to translated remarks. in Russian, adding to having "discussed" with Vladimir Putin.

The meeting between the two leaders comes two weeks before the Ankara summit, scheduled for September 16, which will bring together the most engaged international actors in the Syrian conflict: Mr. Erdogan, Mr. Putin and the Iranian President, Hassan Rohani.

Erdogan said the summit should "contribute to peace in the region".

While the two leaders have said they want to preserve the territorial integrity of Syria, Vladimir Putin said it was "necessary" to fight the jihadists in the region of Idleb, dominated by the jihadists Hayat al-Cham (HTS, the former Syrian branch of Al Qaeda).

"The terrorists continue to bombard the positions of the government troops, trying to attack Russian military targets," the Russian president added.

Fighting in the area again Tuesday killed at least 51 people in both camps, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH).

Meeting on the sidelines of the MAKS air show in the suburbs of Moscow, one of the largest of its kind in the world, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan also spoke about their military cooperation.

NATO member Ankara started receiving the Russian S-400 air defense system in July, despite pressure from Washington. On Tuesday, the Turkish Defense Minister said that Turkey had received a second batch of S-400.

Vladimir Putin said he had discussed with his counterpart Russian fighter Su-35, while Washington has excluded Ankara from a program of purchase of F-35 fighter aircraft after the acquisition of the S-400.

"We have introduced new weapons systems ... In my opinion, our Turkish colleagues have shown a lot of interest," said the Russian president.

© 2019 AFP