Russian police deploy in Syria's Kobani, Trump calls ceasefire 'permanent'

MOSCOW: Russian military police started deploying on Syria's northeast border on Wednesday under a deal with Turkey to drive Kurdish fighters from the region, and US President Donald Trump said Turkey's offensive against the Kurdish forces was over.

Despite harsh criticism of his retreat from Syria, including from leaders in his own Republican party,The police arrival in Kobani marked the start of a mission by Russian and Syrian security forces to push the YPG at least 30km into Syria under an accord reached on Tuesday by presidents Vladimir Putin and Tayyip Erdogan.

Trump made no mention of Russia moving into the void on Wednesday but his critics pounced, with Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen saying"Trump's celebration of the Putin-Erdogan deal represents his total surrender of American leadership."A complete pullout of the YPG, which Ankara considers terrorists because of their links to insurgents inside Turkey, would mark a victory for Erdogan who has said he is seeking to create a"safe zone" for the return of Syrian refugees.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said if Kurdish forces did not retreat, Syrian border guards and Russian military police would have to fall back."And remaining Kurdish formations would then fall under the weight of the Turkish army," he said.In a swipe at Washington, which has called into question how the deal will be guaranteed, Peskov said:"Now they prefer to leave the Kurds at the border and almost force them to fight the Turks.

Turkey, a NATO member, has already been frozen out of a programme to buy and help produce F-35 jets and faces possible US sanctions for buying the S-400 systems, which Washington says are incompatible with NATO's defences and threaten the F-35 if operated near the stealth fighter. Ahead of a meeting of NATO defense ministers on Thursday in Brussels, the United States and NATO cautiously welcomed a German proposal for a security zone in northern Syria, though US Ambassador to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison said Europe should take charge of it and not US forces.

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