Russia announced late Sunday night that it had sent more military police to an area of ​​northern Syria where Turkish-backed fighters clashed with Kurdish forces. The area is near a strategically important highway where Russian and Turkish troops patrol.

The development comes ahead of talks that will take place tomorrow (Tuesday) in southern Russia between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoglu. Syria, where Moscow and Ankara have supported different sides, is one of the issues to be discussed by the two ministers.

Fighting broke out between Turkish-backed fighters and Kurdish forces earlier this month near the northern Syrian city of Ain Issa. The city of Ain Issa is located on the M4 motorway, which connects major Syrian cities and is usually used by Russian-Turkish patrols.

Turkish forces and Syrian rebel allies occupied territory in the region last year in an attack on the Kurdish YPG militia, which controls parts of northern and eastern Syria. The Russian Ministry of Defence said in a statement that more military police officers were sent yesterday, Sunday. “We note the volatile situation in the Ain Issa region,” the statement said. “Earlier, during negotiations with the Turkish side, agreements were reached on the development of joint Russian-Syrian observation posts.”

Additional units of the Russian military police have arrived in the Ain Issa area today to step up efforts to stabilize the situation,” he added. Moscow, whose warplanes are also patrolling the area, has called on both sides to stop bombing each other and to de-escalate the situation. Russia added that no bombings by Turkish-backed fighters have been reported in the last 24 hours.

Also read: Syria | New round of hostilities between Kurdish and Syrian fighters backed by Turkey – VIDEO & MAP

With information from: CNA