Russia and Turkey have agreed to start a truce in Idlib province, Syria, starting at midnight on Friday. The truce was decided in a meeting held today in Moscow between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, with the aim of avoiding a further escalation of violence in Syria after the tensions of the last week.

The agreement also provides for the creation of a “security corridor” along the important M4 highway, the one that connects Aleppo and Latakia, on the coast, which will be controlled by Russian and Turkish soldiers starting from 15 March, and a “buffer zone ”To separate the Turkish military from the Syrian military.

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In Syria, Russia and Turkey they fight on two opposite sides: the Russians are on the side of the Syrian regime of Bashar al Assad, the Turks on the side of the rebels, who control a piece of the Idlib province in the northwest of the country. Despite the conflict, the two governments maintain cordial relations: in the past they had already signed a truce, which however had not led to anything.

The agreement between Russia and Turkey is important because it could mitigate the tensions that had intensified in the last week, that is since when in a bombing on Idlib – it is not known if the Russians or the Syrian air force – at least 34 soldiers had been killed Turks . Turkey then responded a few days later by shooting down a Syrian military plane .