The chief of the Russian military's General Staff has visited Turkey for talks with his counterpart about the situation in Syria.
Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency said General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia, and Turkish General Hulusi Akar met at the Turkish General Staff headquarters in Ankara on September 15.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that the negotiations allowed the two military leaders "to bring the parties' assessments of the current situation in Syria and the measures necessary for upholding the cease-fire closer."
The ministry said Gerasimov and Akar reaffirmed a "shared desire to develop a dialogue and further cooperation between the two countries' militaries."
Russia and the United States brokered a cease-fire that took effect in Syria on September 12 and is meant to halt fighting between the U.S.-backed opposition and Syria's Russian-supported government.
Turkey and Russia experienced a roughly seven-month rupture in relations after Turkey shot down a Russian bomber in November. The rift was repaired soon after July's failed coup in Turkey.
