Moscow, Ankara agree to coordinate efforts in Syria as Kremlin confirms Damascus’ control of Manbij

The high-level talks between Russia and Turkey on Syria held Saturday were useful, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. “We held a very useful meeting of our interdepartmental team: the foreign and defense ministers and the intelligence services’ chiefs,” he said. The talks came following the entrance of the Syrian Army into the city of Manbij, previously controlled by the Kurdish YPG forces. Lavrov said that both countries had “paid special heed to the new circumstances” following the announcement of the US troop withdrawal. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday brushed off the report on Manbij passing under the Syrian government’s control as a “psychological operation.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Saturday the information that the Syrian Army had taken control of Manbij was true.