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Leaders of Russia, Turkey Agree to Cease-fire Deal in Syria's Idlib

Charles Maynes

   MOSCOW - Russia and Turkey agreed to a cease-fire deal in Syria's
   troubled Idlib province following marathon talks in Moscow aimed at
   preventing the two countries' often dueling political aims in Syria
   from spiraling into a direct military conflict.

   Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep
   Tayyip Erdogan, met for six hours of negotiations at the Kremlin --
   more than three of them alone with their translators -- in an effort to
   find a way out of the Idlib impasse.

   The area in the northwest of Syria has been the site of intense
   fighting between Turkish and Syrian government forces in recent weeks
   -- with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, backed by Russian air power,
   vowing to retake the territory from a dwindling band of rebel
   separatists supported by Ankara.

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