Erdogan Hopes Talks With Putin, Trump to Launch New Era in Syria, Iraq

ANKARA (Sputnik) – Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to Sputnik on Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin planned to hold phone talks with US President Donald Trump.

"The [Turkish operation in Syria] Euphrates Shield was a success. We eliminated Islamic State [Daesh] there. Manbij and Raqqa are next. I want us to achieve a good result there as well. President Putin and I shall discuss this during our meeting. Then I have a visit to the United States on May 16. If we are able to launch a new process, I think we shall thereby take steps for a new era in Syria, as well as in Iraq," Erdogan said, speaking to the parliamentary faction of the ruling party.

The relations between Russia and the United States became strained after US strike on Syria.

On April 4, the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces blamed the Syrian government for the alleged chemical weapons attack in Khan Sheikhoun. Damascus denied any involvement in the Idlib incident and the Syrian army said it did not possess chemical weapons as they were destroyed by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

On April 6, the United States conducted a missile strike against the Syrian government's Ash Sha'irat airbase in the Idlib province. Trump claimed that the strike was a response to the alleged chemical weapon attack in Idlib, an incident which the White House blames on Damascus without providing evidence.