• Syria: intense diplomacy between Turkey, Russia and Iran resulted in a deal to prevent a full assault of Idlib. A buffer zone will be created, with Turkey sending troops, and a process implemented to sort the moderate rebels from the jihadists. This is fraught with operational problems and could become a dangerous situation for Turkey. Syrian Kurds reiterated that they cannot detain captured jihadists forever. • Russian Plane: a Russian plane was shot down over the Mediterranean by Russian-made, Assad regime operated, air defences. This mistake was blamed on Israeli fighter jets which were, reportedly, using the plane as cover during an operation to prevent weapons transfers from Iran to Hezbollah. Putin chose, eventually, to portray this as a terrible tragedy while warning all sides not to undertake such actions again. • North Korea: the leaders of the two Koreas met in Pyongyang, trying to keep the diplomatic process with the U.S. going. North Korea offered concessions but made clear that the U.S. must reciprocate. While Trump greeted this warmly, the White House quickly reiterated that U.S. pressure would only reduce after North Korea acts sufficiently. The U.S. claimed Russia has been helping North Korea evade oil sanctions.
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