Raqqa deal ‘allowed hundreds of armed Daesh men to leave’

The Turkish and Russian leaders, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin, held a critical closed meeting in Sochi on Tuesday for about four hours, with a focus on the latest developments in the Syrian dispute.

During the press conference, Putin said the talks with Turkey on the Syrian crisis had contributed to decreasing the level of violence.

But before departing for his meeting with Putin, Erdogan criticized a consensus between the Russian and US presidents that “no military solution is possible” in Syria.

“I’m having difficulty understanding these comments. If a military solution is out of the question, then those who say this should pull their troops out,” Erdogan said.

“If a military method isn’t a solution, one should apply to the political method and find ways to go to elections as soon as possible.”

At the end of the meeting, Putin and Erdogan agreed to focus on a political solution.

Separately, the Russian Defense Ministry said the US is providing de-facto cover for Daesh units in Syria and only pretending to fight terrorism in the Middle East.

A Reuters report quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying that Moscow has not promised to ensure a withdrawal of pro-Iranian forces from Syria. Iran’s presence in Syria is legitimate, Lavrov was quoted as saying by Interfax.