Kremlin warns Syrian Kurds to abide by deal

The Kremlin warns Kurdish fighters that they will face a renewed Turkish onslaught if they fail to withdraw their forces in line with a Russia-Turkey deal.

The warning comes a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan struck a deal to share control of Syria’s northeast.

Under the agreement, Turkey will hold the area it has seized in the invasion that began on Oct. 9, while Russian and Syrian troops will control the rest of the Syria-Turkey border. The deal gives Kurdish fighters 150 hours starting at noon Wednesday to withdraw from the area.

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov warns that if the Kurds fail to do that, Russian and Syrian troops will step back and “the remaining Kurdish units will be steamrolled by the Turkish army.”

— AP