Russia and Turkey Start Joint Patrol Along M4 Highway in Syria on Sunday

The situation in northern Syria recently calmed down, as Moscow and Ankara reached a ceasefire, suspending clashes between Syrian forces on the one side, and Turkish troops and Turkey-backed militants on the other.

A patrol will begin along the M4 highway from the settlement of Trumba to the settlement of Ain-al-Havr. The scheduled joint patrol along the highway was confirmed by the Russian Defence Ministry on Sunday.

The patrols are part of an agreement, negotiated by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their meeting in Moscow. The deal stipulated establishing a security corridor that runs six kilometres (3.7 miles) north and south of the M4 highway that connects Latakia to Saraqib.

The presidents had to hold talks after an escalation in Idlib, where Ankara and Damascus clashed earlier this month.

The conflict between Syrian forces and the Turkish military erupted after the Syrian Army carried out a strike against Tahrir al-Sham* militants in Idlib, killing up to 36 Turkish soldiers, deployed next to the terrorists. In retaliation, Turkey attacked the Syrian military, claiming that its strikes "neutralised" around 300 Syrian servicemen and destroyed multiple military vehicles.