Russia, Turkey discuss northeast Syria amid tensions

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed the situation in northeast Syria with his Turkish counterpart by phone on Tuesday, the foreign ministry said, amid tensions over a possible Turkish military operation there.

Russia, a close ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has emerged as a leading power broker in Syria over more than eight years of civil war and has said that Syria's territorial integrity must be respected by all outside powers.

A Russian foreign ministry statement released no details of the conversation on northeast Syria but said the two ministers agreed to continue the close dialogue.