Moscow has voiced its satisfaction with the ongoing ceasefire in Idlib, Syria, and noted that no violations on part of the Ankara-backed factions were recorded. But violations carried out by independent factions were registered for the third day in a row, something that might usher in Russian or Syrian regime retaliation against attack launch sites.
The Russian defense ministry, for its part, confirmed that no violations to the truce were spotted on part of the Syrian armed factions in Idlib.
The Head of the Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria, Oleg Zhuravlev said: “During the day, no shelling attacks by Turkey-controlled illegal armed groups were reported.”
However, in his words, Zhuravlev said that eight ceasefire violations by units of the Islamic Party of Turkestan and Jahbat al-Nusra (both banned in Russia), which are not controlled by Turkey, were reported in Aleppo governorate.
Political analysts believe that singling out attacks by factions not backed by Turkey may lead to a counter military operation as Russia stresses that these factions aren’t included in the ceasefire deal.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, the day after the signing of the Russian-Turkish agreements that led to the ceasefire in Idlib, confirmed that operations against terrorist factions will continue.
It is noteworthy that Russia refers to Syrian rebel factions as terrorists.
Zhuravlev also confirmed that the round-the-clock communication channel joining the Russian-run Khemiem center and Turkey is up and running.
Moscow has recently announced the forming of a channel for coordination between the Russian and Turkish armies in Idlib.
Zhuravlev spoke more on Russian-Turkish cooperation.
He said that, during the last 24 hours, units of the Russian military police escorted seven Turkish convoys to deployment sites of the Turkish army’s observation posts in the Idlib de-escalation zone.
