MOSCOW. Feb 28 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has hosted a conference with the permanent members of the Russian Security Council in order to address the situation in and around Syria's Idlib, presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said.
"Conference participants discussed relevant items on the Russian domestic agenda. They also had a detailed conversation on the situation surrounding Syria's Idlib and expressed their extreme concern over the dramatic deterioration of the situation provoked by terrorist groups in that district of Syria, who have intensified their offensive activities against the Syrian army," Peskov said.
"During the discussions, conference participants acknowledged that, in coordination with the Russian side and in response to its strong requests, Turkish military observation outposts were earlier deployed in the Idlib area, whose responsibilities included monitoring the moves of militants, preventing their terrorist activities, and curbing aggressive actions in regard to Russian military sites. Our Turkish partners have failed to perform this mission, as a significant number of militants are not under their control," he said.
Conference participants concluded that, "in the course of the Syrian army's offensive operations against terrorist groups, Russia did all it could to ensure the security of Turkish service members at the above-mentioned observation outposts," Peskov said.
"No Turkish service members were harmed or even exposed to danger at these outposts. The tragic instances of deaths among Turkish personnel occurred in the areas where terrorist gangs were conducting offensive operations, and by the way, there were numerous foreign mercenaries among them, including citizens of countries that were formerly parts of the Soviet Union. Despite our numerous inquiries, the Turkish side did not inform us of the presence of Turkish soldiers there," he said.
Conference participants agreed that, "what is also conspicuous is that the Turkish military is not supposed to be outside of the observation outposts in the Idlib area," Peskov said.
"It is well known that Russia has undertaken all possible measures to ensure the safety of the Republic of Turkey along the Syrian-Turkish border. Moreover, owing to Russia's efforts, the real depth of the security zone significantly exceeds five kilometers, as indicated in the well-known Adana accords between Turkey and Syria, and, in fact, reaches 30 kilometers. Permanent members of the [Russian] Security Council said that a Russian interagency taskforce is stationed in Ankara, which is continuing negotiations with its Turkish partners on the de-escalation situation in Idlib," Peskov said.
"Conference participants expressed a hope that Turkish authorities will take all necessary measures to ensure the security of Russian foreign missions and citizens in Turkey," he said.
Conference participants included Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Federation Council Chairperson Valentina Matviyenko, State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin, Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev, Presidential Executive Office chief Anton Vaino, Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, Federal Security Service (FSB) Director Alexander Bortnikov, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergei Naryshkin, and Special Presidential Representative for Environment Protection, Ecology, and Transport Sergei Ivanov.