Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by telephone with the leaders of Turkey and Iraq about battle for Mosul, where Iraqi forces are fighting to retake the city from the Islamic State, the Kremlin said on Wednesday. Putin “wished the Iraqi army and its allies complete success in their objectives,” the Kremlin said in a statement on his conversations with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. He also informed the Iraqi leader about the “measures taken by Russia to defuse the situation” in the Syrian city of Aleppo. Putin is to attend a summit on Syria in Berlin on Wednesday with the leaders of France and Germany. In a separate conversation, Putin also discussed the battle for Mosul with Erdogan, the Kremlin said, but gave no further details.

Source: Hindustan Times October 19, 2016 09:22 UTC