Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday he did not rule out Syrian forces, backed by Russian air power, launching a full-scale assault on militants in Syria's Idlib province, but that such an operation was unpractical for now.
Russia, one of the Syrian government’s staunchest allies, and Turkey brokered a deal in September to create a demilitarized zone in the northwest Idlib region that would be free of all heavy weapons and militant fighters.
The deal helped avert a government assault on the region, the last major bastion of opponents of President Bashar Assad.
But Moscow has since complained about escalating violence in the area and said that militants who used to belong to the Nusra Front group are in control of large swaths of territory.
Speaking in Beijing, Putin said that Moscow and Damascus would continue what he called the fight against terrorism and that any militants who tried to break out of Idlib, something he said happened from time to time, were bombed.
Reuters
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