Russian President Vladimir Putin had a phone call with leaders in Turkey and Iraq on Wednesday in which he “wished the Iraqi army and its allies complete success in their objectives” for Mosul, according to the Kremlin.
Putin spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on the call, bringing Abadi up to speed on “measures taken by Russia to defuse the situation” in the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo, according to an Al-Monitor report.
“In a separate conversation, Putin also discussed the battle for Mosul with Erdogan, the Kremlin said, but gave no further details,” Al-Monitor added.
The Russian propaganda outlet Sputnik News quotes more from the Kremlin press release:
The leaders exchanged views on the settlement of the Syrian crisis. The Russian side, in particular, emphasized the importance of ensuring of the effective separation of the moderate opposition troops from the Nusra Front militants and other terrorist groups affiliated with it… In the context of the Russian-Turkish top level negotiations which took place in Istanbul on October 10, further development of the bilateral political, trade, economic cooperation has been discussed.
The Russian military hectored Western powers on Thursday with its concerns that ISIS militants might “try to escape Mosul or be granted safe passage out of it towards Syria.”
“We hope that our partners from the international coalition realize, what would be the consequences of having bands freely roaming around the Middle East. Terrorist should be destroyed on sight, not chased from one country to another,” said General Valery Gerasimov, chief of Russia’s General Staff, as quoted by RT.com.