ALEPPO, Syria — Riyadh al-Khalaf, chairman of the Tell Abyad Military Council affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), denied in a statement to Hawar News Agency ANHA, reaching an agreement with Russia regarding Ain Issa. “All the news about reaching an agreement with the Russian forces are baseless; this is false and the control map is still intact following six weeks of Turkish military escalation,” Khalaf said Dec. 28.
His statement came against the backdrop of the Russian military police deployment in Ain Issa, which was considered as evidence of an agreement over the SDF handing over the area to Russia and the Syrian regime.