Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, both of whose forces are involved in fierce fighting in Idlib province on the Turkish border, are set to meet in Moscow Thursday.
Erdogan and Putin should define an area inside Syria that would be safe for refugees and aid organisations.
“It’s up to Putin and Erdogan to define such a zone,” Merkel spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer said in Berlin.
She added that Merkel had urged the creation of the zone in telephone calls with both leaders.
Erdogan said Wednesday in Ankara he hoped a ceasefire would be “swiftly established” when he meets Putin.
“Effective and safe access for aid organisations to (the safe zone) must be guaranteed,” Demmer said, warning of a “dramatic humanitarian situation on the ground”.
German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer in October suggested an internationally-controlled secure zone on the Syrian-Turkish border to protect refugees.
But the proposal ran into internal divisions in the Berlin coalition government and was soon overtaken by facts on the ground as Turkey launched an offensive of its own into Syrian territory.
Erdogan said Europe must support Turkey’s “political and humanitarian solutions in Syria” if it wants to resolve the refugee situation.
