Turkey 'not satisfied' by Russia proposals on Idlib

• Syrian forces, backed by Russian air power, have pressed a brutal offensive in Idlib, the last rebel stronghold in the northwest of the country, displacing some 900,000 people in less than three months.

ANKARA: Turkey said Tuesday that Russia had yet to offer an acceptable solution to the worsening violence in northwestern Syria, but added that talks were ongoing.

Syrian forces, backed by Russian air power, have pressed a brutal offensive in Idlib, the last rebel stronghold in the northwest of the country, displacing some 900,000 people in less than three months.

Turkey and Russia, who back opposing sides, were again locked in talks in Moscow on Tuesday after an earlier round of discussions in Ankara last week failed to produce an agreement.

"For the moment, no satisfying result has obtained from the negotiations," Ibrahim Kalin, spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, told reporters in Ankara.

Kalin rejected claims by Moscow that the offensive was necessary to prevent attacks against a Russian military base in the area.

"These statements do not correspond with the reality on the ground," he said.

Turkey has bolstered its military positions in Idlib in recent weeks and has clashed with Syrian forces.

Ankara backs certain rebel groups in the region, and wants to prevent another wave of refugees adding to the 3.7 million Syrians that it already hosts.

More than half the displaced in Idlib are children, the UN says, and many are now sleeping rough in harsh winter conditions.

The wave of displacement is the biggest since the start of the civil war nearly nine years ago and the largest exodus of civilians since World War II.