The deadline for the five-day ceasefire that prevailed in northeastern Syria expires on Tuesday evening.
The Erdogan demands that the Kurdish-dominated YPG militia pull away from a 120-kilometer zone adjacent to the Turkish-Syrian border, according to Reuters. According to Turkey, the zone will then be extended to close to 450 kilometers. If the Kurds do not pull out of the area, Turkey's offensive will continue, says Erdogan.
Late Tuesday afternoon Mazlum Abdi, commander of Syria's Democratic Forces (SDF), announced that all within the YPG militia have now also left the area in question, AFP reports.
Abdi gave the message to US Vice President Mike Pence. The cessation of fire was made at the Vice President's visit to Turkey.
Strengthens positionThe fact that the talks are taking place in precisely Russian Sochi is not surprising.
Russia has taken a leading role in northeastern Syria since President Donald Trump chose to pull US military out of the area, which allowed the Turkish offensive.
President Putin, who is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's top ally, is expected to underline the importance of Syria's territorial integrity - but without jeopardizing its relationship with Turkey, according to a Middle East expert at the Total Defense Research Institute (FOI).
- He is likely to try to get Erdogan to retreat, but without jerking the rug for him. Tying Turkey, which is NATO's link to Asia Minor and southeastern Europe, to itself is of enormous interest to Putin, Bitte Hammargren told TT on Friday.
For the Kremlin, however, the strategy for the meeting has been obscured.
"The most important thing for us is that we achieve long-term stability in Syria and the region," says Vladimir Putin's foreign adviser, according to AFP.
In connection with the press conference held after the meeting, Turkey also announced that, together with Russia, it has agreed to establish a "terror-free security zone" in northern Syria.
"We had a very productive meeting with our Russian counterparts today," said a Turkish official.