Date: Apr 9, 2019 Source: The Daily Star Putin, Erdogan discuss missile deal, Syria MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Monday discussed a missile deal slammed by the U.S. as well as closer military cooperation during a visit by Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Moscow. The two sides must “strengthen cooperation in the military-technical sphere,” Putin told Erdogan as they met in the Kremlin. “These regard first of all the completion of the contract to supply S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems to Turkey,” he said. “There are other promising projects on the agenda related to the supply of modern Russian military products to Turkey,” Putin added. NATO member Turkey’s missile deal has tested its already soured relations with Washington. The U.S. and other NATO allies say the S-400s aren’t compatible with the alliance’s weapons systems. Washington has voiced concerns that their use by Turkey could compromise security of the state-of-the art U.S. F-35 fighter jets that Turkey stands to receive. Last week, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence warned Turkey that it was risking its NATO membership and its participation in the F-35 program by failing to cancel the missile contract with Russia. Erdogan has said the S-400s are needed to protect Turkey’s borders. He said he turned to Russia because no acceptable U.S. missile deal was available at the time. U.S. acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan last week said he was confident Turkey would drop the plan and buy the U.S. Patriot system instead. The first S-400 delivery is expected in July. Erdogan and Putin also discussed Syria, where they have backed opposite sides in the 8-year-old conflict but have been working closely to end the fighting. Putin said they were unable to reach an agreement to set up a monitoring center in Syria’s militant-held Idlib region, agreed at a summit in Sochi in February. “We have so far not been able to create the monitoring center,” Putin said. “But I am sure that we will do this.” Putin said, however, that Russia and Turkey would jointly patrol the Idlib province. “We are basically entering joint patrolling, at least patrolling from two sides,” Putin said. Russia, which supports Syrian President Bashar Assad, and rebel backer Turkey in September inked a buffer zone deal to prevent a massive regime offensive on the Idlib region, near the Turkish border. Thirteen civilians died Sunday in bombing in Idlib. Separately, the U.S. military said Monday it was not preventing Syrians from leaving the remote Rukban displacement camp near an American base in Syria and was urging Russia and Damascus to help facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid. Russia has recently called for the camp near the Jordanian border to be dismantled and accused the U.S. of hindering such efforts. In the past, Russia and Syria have accused the U.S. of blocking aid delivery. Speaking in Jordan Sunday, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called the U.S. presence in the area “unlawful,” saying it has “unilaterally” created “some kind of safe zone.” The camp, which is surrounded by areas controlled by the Syrian government, lies within a “de-confliction zone” agreed to by the U.S. and Russia. Col. Scott Rawlinson, a spokesman for the U.S. military, said Monday that the U.S. military had stressed to the Russians the “importance” of the zone “in clear and unambiguous terms.” The U.S. “expects all parties to abide by this [deconfliction] agreement,” he said in an email to the Associated Press.