Russia said late on Sunday it had sent more military police to an area in northern Syria where fighters backed by Turkey have clashed with Kurdish forces near a strategic highway patrolled by Russian and Turkish troops.
The deployment comes ahead of talks in Russia on Tuesday between Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu. They are expected to focus in part on Syria, where Turkey backs rebels opposed to President Bashar al-Assad, while Russia supports Assad's forces.
Battles between Turkish-backed fighters and Kurdish forces erupted this month near the town of Ain Issa, which sits on the M4 highway that links major Syrian cities.