Idlib is facing a humanitarian disaster as hundreds of thousands flee a Syrian and Russian military campaign to retake the province from militant rule. Overlooked in Western coverage of the crisis is that Idlib is mostly controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a rebranded affiliate of Al-Qaeda — and that Turkey, with U.S. backing, has intervened to keep the extremist group in place.
Guest: Scott Ritter, former UN Weapons Inspector and Marine Corps Intelligence Officer.
During the summit, the participants will address the Syrian conflict in all its aspects, focusing on the situation on the ground, the Idlib agreement, and the political process, and to harmonize joint efforts to find a lasting solution to the conflict.
After their sources of water supply were seized by advancing government forces, the terrorists started abandoning their positions without a fight.
“The memorandum on the Idlib demilitarized zone will be agreed upon with the Syrian government in the next few hours,” Shoigu added.
The bilateral meeting, which was closed to the media, started at 2:50 pm local time (1150GMT) and lasted around an hour and 50 minutes.
With the large Russian bombardment, the Syrian Arab Army’s (SAA) long-awaited offensive is bound to start in the next few days.
Airstrike attributed to Israel and threats made by its leaders suggest Israel may respond to any danger – even if it means deviating from deals made with Moscow
The Kremlin aide further said on the sidelines of the summit, Putin will hold separate bilateral meetings with his Iranian and Turkish counterparts.
The remarks came as some Israeli reports said Tel Aviv believes that the fate of Idlib will be determined in the Tehran summit.
(23.8.2018) Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday during a visit to Jerusalem, John Bolton said: „We now see plans for the Syrian regime to resume offensive military activities in Idlib province.
„We are obviously concerned about the possibility that Assad may use chemical weapons again.
„Just so there‘s no confusion here, if the Syrian regime uses chemical weapons we will respond very strongly and they really ought to think about this a long time,“ he added.
Syria‘s Defense Minister General Ali Abdullah Ayyoub said Sunday that the Syrian army will recapture Idlib, the last major rebel bastion in Syria, either through military action or reconciliation.
Ayyoub made the remarks during a press conference held following his meeting with the visiting Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami at the Syrian Defense Ministry on Sunday