The crisis between Turkey and Russia continues. On Friday Turkish soldiers and militias were attacked for the second time by Russian fighter jets in the town of Nairab, east of Idlib. The air raid is said to have caused deaths and injuries. Meanwhile, Putin and Erdogan had a telephone conversation about the situation in Idlib.

Images of the Russian air strike

Also on Thursday Turkish troops attacked the Syrian forces in the same region and were bombed by the Russian air force. The Turkish Ministry of Defence spoke of two soldiers killed and five injured, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that two Turkish soldiers and 25 jihadists had been killed.

Syrian state news agency SANA published footage of the air strike targeting Turkish tanks on Friday.

Talk between Erdogan and Putin

On Friday, when the second air raid took place, Erdogan and Putin spoke on the phone. According to the statement of the Turkish, Erdogan called on Putin to "rein in" the Syrian regime. On Wednesday, Erdogan had given Russia and Syria an ultimatum to withdraw from the boundaries of Turkish observation posts in Idlib by the end of February.

A statement from the Kremlin said that the telephone call had been about the situation in the "de-escalation zone" in Idlib. Accordingly, Putin expressed his concern about the aggressive actions of extremist groups and demanded unconditional respect for Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

US: WE STAND BY TURKEY

Shortly after the meeting, the US State Department again declared that they stood by their NATO ally Turkey against these actions.

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