Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is back to playing his country’s NATO ally the United States against its Syrian Kurdish partners and Ankara’s tactical ally, Russia, claiming that he and President Donald Trump had carried the issue of a planned safe zone in northern Syria to a “certain point.” He implied that there was progress on this front. But is there?

In a lengthy interview with CNNTurk, Erdogan did not provide any details about what, if anything, had been decided during his Feb. 21 telephone call with Trump, saying simply that the subject of Syria “was at the fore.” He insisted, however, that any safe zone would need to be under Turkey’s control because it was Turkey’s own security that was at risk “because it's my border.”

Erdogan claimed Trump understood Turkey’s concerns, saying, “We have a positive relationship with Mr. Trump.” Direct contact between them was helping “attain instant results,” Erdogan said, but he failed to offer specifics. Russia insists that a safe zone would require the approval of the Syrian government and that territory vacated by the United States needs to be returned to regime control. It has put a damper on Erdogan’s recent enthusiasm for Moscow.

While Erdogan casts the safe zone in security terms, it's also where he would like to park over 3.5 million Syrian refugees who are a huge burden on Turkey’s lagging economy. But many are unlikely to return if the same regime forces they fled are in control.