President Erdogan of Turkey signed a deal with the Russians on 12 January for a cease-fire, relieving Idlib of its siege by Assad, Iran and Russia in fulfilment of the understanding reached in September 2018. The cease-fire has been blatantly breached. Erdogan is infuriated. He declared that Turkish patience “is at an end.” There are already some 800,000 refugees along Turkey’s frontier with Syria, with the prospect of more imminent. If the bombardment does not stop, then Turkey will take action. On Monday it was reported that a Turkish column, crossing the Syrian frontier, was heading in the direction of Idlib. Yet the Russians do not seem much concerned, believing that their interests coincide elsewhere, including the fate of Libya. That remains to be seen. The Russians have been silent on impeachment, but they would be unwise to count the Americans out of the game entirely.

See Vzglyad ru, 1 February 2020