US President Donald Trump has urged Russia to stop supporting the “atrocities” of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, the White House announced on Sunday. Syrian regime troops, supported by air strikes by its Russian ally, recently intensified their assault on the Idleb region, where the last rebel stronghold is located, killing hundreds of people. Under a de-escalation agreement concluded in 2018 between Moscow and Ankara, Turkey has twelve observation posts in the province of Idleb. A Turkish delegation is scheduled to visit Moscow this Monday. Russian officials last week visited Turkey but the visit failed to yield any concrete agreement.

Source: The North Africa Journal February 17, 2020 14:26 UTC