High Stakes for Putin, Erdogan Summit on Northeast Syria by Elena Becatoros – Associated Press
Turkey’s president is to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin this week in talks crucial to the outcome of Turkey’s latest incursion into northern Syria, and to the broader Syrian war.
The stakes couldn’t be higher. An agreement between Putin — who has backed the Syrian government of Bashar Assad in Syria’s multi-faceted war, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could definitively end the fighting along the Turkey-Syria border.
But failure to reach a deal could set the stage for a wider conflict that pulls in Turkey, Russia, Syrian government forces, Kurdish militias and Turkey-backed Syrian fighters.
Tuesday’s meeting in Sochi, Russia, will come just hours before the clock runs out on a cease-fire agreed between Turkey and the United States…