Russia rules out military operation in Syria's Idlib

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW

There will not be a military operation in Syria's northwestern Idlib province, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Monday.

"The details regarding the issue will be coordinated in the following hours with the Syrian side," Shoigu told reporters after a meeting between the Turkish and Russian leaders in Russia's Black Sea coastal city of Sochi.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin agreed to turn Syria's northwestern Idlib province into a demilitarized zone.