The Kremlin said on Thursday that President Vladimir Putin had no plans to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on March 5 to discuss the situation in Syria’s Idlib region despite statements by Erdoğan saying such a meeting was likely.
The Turkish president said on Wednesday he would probably meet Putin in İstanbul for talks on Idlib next week.
“Putin has other working plans for March 5,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call.
Russian-Turkish relations have been strained due to an escalating conflict in Idlib, where Syrian government forces have advanced and occupied a number of Turkish observation posts with Moscow’s help.