Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed the need for diplomacy to resolve the conflict in northern Syria in a phone call on December 3 to discuss the renewed fighting.
A statement from Erdogan’s office after the call said Syria should not become a source of greater instability.
"President Erdogan emphasized that while Turkey continues to support the territorial integrity of Syria, it also strives for a just and permanent solution in Syria," Erdogan told Putin in their conversation on December 3, according to the statement from Erdogan's office posted on X.
He also said it is important to open more space for diplomacy in the region and the Syrian regime must engage in the political solution process, according to the statement.
Erdogan vowed Turkey will maintain its determined stance on the fight against the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been designated as a terrorist group by Turkey and the United States, and its "extensions,” who are trying to take advantage of the recent developments in Syria, the statement said.
SEE ALSO: The Key Players In Syria's Reignited Civil WarErdogan and Putin spoke as Syrian rebels advanced against government forces after capturing Aleppo last week. The rebels pushed close on December 3 to the major city of Hama, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the rebels said.
The Syrian Observatory said on December 3 that the toll from the rebel offensive in the north had risen to 602 dead, including 104 civilians.
An attack on Hama would ramp up pressure on Assad, whose Russian and Iranian allies have scrambled to support him against the revived rebellion. The city has remained in government hands since civil war erupted in 2011.
A statement from Syria's army command said its forces were striking "terrorist organizations" in north Hama and Idlib provinces with Russian air support.
The Kremlin said Putin stressed the need for a "speedy end to the terrorist aggression against the Syrian state by radical groups." Both leaders noted the importance of further close coordination between Russia, Turkey, and Iran on the matter, a Kremlin statement said.
"The two presidents will continue to be in contact with each other in the context of seeking steps to de-escalate the crisis," the statement said.
The Syrian civil war had been mostly dormant for years until a major offensive by militants in northwestern Syria revived the conflict.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its allies last week seized control of most of Aleppo and the surrounding countryside, marking the biggest offensive in years.
HTS is a militant Islamist group that seeks to establish a state in Syria governed by Islamic law. The U.S.-designated terrorist organization has between 5,000 and 10,000 fighters, according to U.S. intelligence estimates.
The conflict has pitted Moscow and Tehran against Turkey, which supports armed groups involved in the HTS-led offensive.
Russia's ambassador to the United Nations late on December 3 accused Ukrainian intelligence services of aiding the HTS.
Rebels fighting with HTS are "openly flaunting" that they are supported by Ukraine, Vasily Nebenzya told the UN Security Council.
The envoy said there was an "identifiable trail" showing Ukraine's GUR military intelligence service was "providing weapons to fighters" and claimed Ukrainian military instructors from the GUR are training HTS fighters for combat operations, including against Russian troops in Syria.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said earlier that Russia and Iran "bear the main responsibility" for the recent escalation in fighting. It also noted Ukrainians were being targeted on a nightly basis by Iranian-designed drones.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his allies in Iran "continue to make every effort not to lose control over the puppet Syrian regime, which is associated by the majority of Syrians with inhuman cruelty, tyranny, and crimes," the ministry said on December 2.
There are indications the conflict could escalate.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on December 3 in an interview with a Qatari news outlet that Tehran would consider sending troops to Syria if Damascus asked.
Iraqi Prime Minister Shia al-Sudani said Baghdad would not be "a mere spectator" in Syria and blamed Israeli military strikes on the Syrian government for the rebel advance, his office said.
Compounding Assad's problems, fighters from a U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led coalition battled government forces in the northeast, both sides said, opening a new front along a vital supply route.