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The deputy director of the Russian Center, Major General of the Marine Corps Vyacheslav Sitnik, said during a press conference that “due to the escalating situation, the Russian Military Police escorting civilian means of transport on the stretch of highway between Tal Tamr and Ain Issa has been suspended. “
While the situation is still tense in the city, which is on the brink of battle, the leader of the National Army, Colonel Ziyad Hajj Obaid, confirmed to Al-Modon that military skirmishes took place between the National Army and the SDF in those areas, at a time when negotiations between Russians and Turks were continuing over Ain Issa’s fate. However, the situation will be decided according to him, during the first week of 2021, when a meeting between the two parties is expected in Ankara.
Obeid added that the Russian military police forces are only present at the entrances to Ain Issa, and number about 25 members and only 3 Russian military commanders, while the local administration is still under the authority of the SDF. He explained that a large Russian military convoy is stationed in the Jalabiyya area, while the National Army continues to mobilize its forces and continues a state of alert. He stressed that the Turkish side remains consistent with its position, which is the withdrawal of the SDF and Russian forces from the area and leaving them to the National Army in exchange for not carrying out a major Turkish military operation east of the Euphrates.
For his part, the expert in military affairs, Colonel Ismail Ayoub, assures that the situation in Ain Issa will not be resolved before the president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden, takes office in the White House, noting in an interview with Al-Modon that Moscow is taking advantage of the American position currently monitoring the situation there. Press the SDF to make concessions and withdraw from Ain Issa in favor of the regime forces entering the city in exchange for securing their interests on the international highway.
These developments come with the ongoing Russian-Turkish talks in the eastern Euphrates region. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Sochi on Tuesday. Lavrov said after the meeting that Moscow will do everything possible with the Turkish side to solve humanitarian problems in Syria. Meanwhile, Çavuşolu said that Ankara is doing its best to reach a solution in Syria and supports the political transition, without addressing the situation in Ain Issa.
Ayoub believes that the current Russian maneuvers with Turkey are also linked to the areas of influence in Jabal al-Zawiya and Tal Rifaat, since Moscow proposes to keep the National Army north of Ain Issa to prevent the expansion of the Qasd, the latter being subject to the control of the Syrian regime in exchange for the Turks to hand over the Jabal al-Zawiya area to the Russians from Rifaat and Marea. Control of Turkish influence.
Ain Issa continues to witness intermittent clashes between members of the National Army and Qasd, pending the final decision, while more than one meeting was held between Russian and Turkish military leaders in the region, military sources told Al- Modon.
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