Russia might be indirectly encouraging Turkey to advance toward Syria’s northeastern town of Manbij while further sidelining Washington from the Syrian scene after President Donald Trump voiced his plans to withdraw US troops from Syria, sources familiar with the situation hinted after a summit on Syria last week in Turkey.
All eyes were on the tripartite Syria meeting that gathered the top leaders of Russia, Iran and Turkey on April 4 in Ankara, where they met to discuss how to end the war in Syria.