Now that the US has pulled out of Northern Syria, the Russian government announced today that its own troops are patrolling between Erdogan’s forces and Assad’s forces:
WAPO – Russia announced on Tuesday that its units were patrolling between the Turkish and Syrian militaries near the northern Syrian town of Manbij, in a sign that Moscow, a key ally of the Syrian government, was moving to fill a security vacuum after U.S. troops were withdrawn from the area.
A Russian Defense Ministry statement said that military police in northwestern Manbij were patrolling “along the line of contact between the Syrian Arab Republic and Turkey.” The statement said the Russian military was also “interacting” with Turkey’s government.
A U.S. official said late Monday that U.S. troops had withdrawn from Manbij. Early Tuesday, Syrian state television reported that government troops had entered the town, airing video footage of what it said were residents celebrating the arrival of Syrian forces in the center of Manbij.
The developments come a day after the Syrian Kurds announced that they had struck an agreement with the government of President Bashar al-Assad aimed at blunting a nearly week-long Turkish government offensive into Kurdish-held territory in northern Syria.
Note that it says the Russian military is also “interacting” with Turkey’s government. I’m guessing that means some sort of negotiations.
On top of all this, Trump signed an executive order issuing what are supposed to be crippling sanctions against Turkey yesterday and, according to Wapo, told Erdogan to implement an immediate cease-fire.
But according to new reports, Erdogan shows no sign of complying:
Ankara has said its military operation is aimed at clearing the border of Syrian Kurdish forces with links to Kurdish militants inside of Turkey and repatriating Syrian refugees to the country.
Erdogan has given no indication he is willing to halt the offensive. “We will soon secure the region from Manbij to the border with Iraq,” he said on Tuesday, during a visit to Azerbaijan, referring to a 230-mile expanse.
Wapo also reports that Turkey has proxy forces, known as the Syrian National Army, that are planning to take back Manbij:
Turkish-backed forces operating under the Syrian National Army, an umbrella group of rebel factions, had announced on Monday the start of an operation to retake the city of Manbij from the SDF.
The Turkish-backed Syrian National Army said on Tuesday that its forces had “started freeing villages” around Manbij a day earlier but had not entered the town.
This would obviously pit them against both Russian troops and the Syrian Army, which are now in Manbij according to reports.