On Jan. 27, a Russian delegation composed of President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin and unnamed high-level military officials visited Damascus for talks with President Bashar al-Assad. Earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held a phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Both events focused on the situation in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, where government forces on Jan. 26 reached the outskirts of Maaret al-Numan, a town controlled by the opposition. It is a strategic settlement that a major highway linking Damascus to Aleppo passes through. The Syrian army also reportedly wrestled control of 22 towns. The offensive was backed by Russian airstrikes that the Turkish side views as a violation of the cease-fire mediated between Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Jan. 12.

During the first week of this month, Putin left Damascus for Istanbul, reportedly leaving Assad with a sour message. The Syrian army was strongly advised to halt its offensive on Idlib to allow Turkey to relocate some of the opposition groups to Libya and pressure others to break with the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorist group. This is how Moscow interprets the commitment Erdogan assumed in the Russian resort of Sochi in September 2018 as part of the Russian-Turkish deal over Idlib.

Policymakers with knowledge of the situation who spoke with Al-Monitor not for attribution said the Syrian president didn’t like what Putin had to say. The Syrian army, backed by Russian air power, was seizing control of several towns in Idlib and didn’t want to lose its momentum. Yet Assad had to concede to Putin’s advice — some may say demand — since the initiative was part of a bigger package of the Russian-Turkish deal over Libya and bilateral agreements.