Turkey says it will not be renewing its offensive against Kurdish militants in northern Syria after it reached an agreement with Russia on the parameters of a “safe zone” long sought by Ankara in the region.

Axar.az reports citing foreign media.

In a statement issued late on Tuesday, the Turkish Defense Ministry said that the United States had informed Ankara about the completion of the Kurdish militants’ withdrawal from the buffer zone along the border with Syria.

“Within the scope of the agreement reached between the presidents of Turkey and the Russian Federation in Sochi on 22, October 2019, joint activities will start with the Russian Federation from Wednesday,” the statement read.

“The Sochi agreement includes articles upholding Turkey’s border security and withdrawal of YPG terrorist elements 30 km away from our border,” said the statement, referring to Kurdish militants of the so-called People’s Protection Units. “At this stage, there is no further need to conduct a new operation outside the present operation area,” it added.

The statement was released hours after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, unveiled a 10-point memorandum of understanding following lengthy talks in Sochi.