Astana

The presidents of Russia and Turkey have said they support the formation of so-called safe zones in Syria and hope an agreement about them will be reached at the multilateral Syria talks underway in Kazakhstan.

Syrian rebels said on May 3 they were suspending participation in a latest round of peace talks aimed at pushing a Russian plan for "de-escalation zones" in the war-torn country.

Joint steps by Turkey and Russia could influence the situation in the Middle East, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on May 3 as he met Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the situation in Syria and other economic and political issues.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will focus on the Syrian crisis and the fight against terrorism in Syria at a meeting on May 3 in Sochi, where the two leaders will seek to eliminate mutual embargos in order to fully normalize bilateral ties.

The preparations for the next meetings on Syria in Astana and Geneva scheduled for May, are gaining momentum. Politicians continue to express their views on the process of the six-year conflict's peaceful settlement.

The United Nations mediator for Syria said  yesterday he would hold talks with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov in Geneva on April 24, and that the United States had declined to take part in any trilateral meeting for now.

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on April 18 for winning the April 16 referendum on constitutional amendments, the Kremlin and Turkish state media said.

Putin telephoned Erdoğan to congratulate him over the win of the "yes" side in the referendum, state-run Anadolu Agency said, quoting presidential sources.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the latest developments in Syria by phone on April 13 and agreed to support an investigation by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) into the use of chemical weapons in northern Syria.

Turkey's Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın said in an interview late on April 7 that a no-fly zone could have prevented the Assad regime's chemical attack.

Speaking to CNN's Christiane Amanpour, Kalın said that Trump showed with the recent retaliation against the regime's attack that chemical attacks will not go unpunished.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on April 6 said he welcomed remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump considering military action in Syria, as he voiced the country's readiness to support if required. "I thank Trump (for his remarks) but it should not remain unfulfilled.