Moscow has urged Turkey to abandon plans for a military operation in northern Syria and will continue to do so, Special Russian Presidential Representative for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev said at a press conference on Thursday.

"A final decision on the operation has not been made yet and, therefore, we called on our Turkish partners and are urging them to refrain from such military actions on Syrian soil," the Russian envoy told the press conference, following the results of the 18th international Astana format meeting on Syria.

"We told our Turkish friends in earnest that this might further escalate the situation and, in particular, lead to an armed confrontation. This may encourage separatist sentiments of the so-called Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, in which neither Turkey, nor Russia, nor Iraq, nor Iran is interested," Lavrentyev emphasized.

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According to the envoy, Moscow still sees opportunities to find other solutions to ongoing problems, including the cessation of ongoing shelling attacks, which Moscow condemns.

"Work must be maintained by all the sides. Some solution to this problem must be found without resorting to military methods," the Russian special presidential representative stressed, adding that the presence of US troops in Syria’s northeast had a substantial impact.

According to Lavrentyev, Turkey's looming military operation in Syria's north will not fully resolve the country's national security issues.

"We believe and frankly pointed out that the military operation would not resolve all those problems that exist today and, primarily, it would not fully resolve the problem of Turkey’s national security. It seems to me that Turkey’s national security problems can be resolved only if the Syrian government forces take full control of the borders of the territories."

"Unfortunately, we are not seeing this, and the Kurdish self-defense forces are still present there," the envoy stated.

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