Turkey's Erdogan says hopes Putin meeting to ease Syria situation

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he hoped decisions made at his meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday would ease the situation in northwest Syria's Idlib region, where conflict has escalated in recent weeks.

Speaking in front of cameras at the start of their meeting, Erdogan said relations between Turkey and Russia were at a peak and his goal was to strengthen those ties. Russia backs Syrian government forces in the Syrian conflict, while Turkey backs rebels fighting them.