Iran and Russia have backed a military campaign to retake the last rebel-held stronghold in Syria as Turkey pleaded for a ceasefire. Iran and Russia have backed a military campaign to retake the last rebel-held stronghold in Syria as Turkey pleaded for a ceasefire. The trilateral summit in Tehran involves Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. While Mr Putin called for the “total annihilation of terrorists in Syria”, he left open the possibility of a ceasefire. Reacting to Mr Erdogan’s proposal for a ceasefire in Idlib, Mr Putin said “a ceasefire would be good” but indicated that Moscow does not think it will hold.

Source: Irish Independent September 07, 2018 22:51 UTC