Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu met his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar and Hakan Fidan, chief of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) in Moscow on Aug. 24, Hurriyet daily reported.

According to a statement by Russia's Defense Ministry, "The heads of the military services continued a substantive dialogue on the situation in Syria, which began a week ago at a bilateral meeting in Moscow, during which the Russian side handed over to Turkish colleagues proposals on resolving the situation in the northwest of Syria."

The meeting was expected to address the issue of Idlib in northwestern Syria, a subject also addressed on Aug. 24 in a meeting in Moscow between Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

“A military solution there will cause catastrophe,” Cavusoglu said at a joint press conference, referring to the situation in Syria’s last rebel-held province of Idlib.

On his part, Lavrov said he was sure Turkish and Russian presidents would “talk in detail on this topic.”

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