UN urges Putin, Erdogan to talk to avert Idlib ‘bloodbath’

The UN’s Syria peace envoy calls on the Russian and Turkish presidents to urgently speak to each other to help avert a “bloodbath” in rebel-held Idlib, as a military offensive appears imminent.

Staffan de Mistura appeals to “President Putin and to President Erdogan … to make a telephone call,” even before they are set to meet with their Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani in Tehran on Friday.

“Let’s try to avoid that the last probably major battle of the Syrian territorial conflict … ends in a bloodbath,” he tells reporters in Geneva, insisting Russia and Turkey held “the key for the soft solution to the Idlib issue.”

After retaking a succession of rebel bastions this year, Damascus has set its sights on Idlib, which is held by a complex array of rebels and jihadists.

— AFP