Turkish, Russian foreign ministers speak over phone

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu spoke with his Russian counterpart over the phone on Tuesday.

According to diplomatic sources, Cavusoglu and Sergey Lavrov discussed the novel coronavirus and developments in the region.

Turkish and Russian forces carried out their sixth joint patrol along M-4 highway in Idlib, northwestern Syria, Turkey’s National Defense Ministry Tuesday said in a tweet earlier.

The M4 highway, also known as the Aleppo-Al Hasakah road, is about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Turkey's southern border.

Last month, Ankara and Moscow agreed on a protocol urging parties to "cease all military actions along the line of contact in the Idlib de-escalation area” starting on March 6.

The coronavirus known as COVID-19 has spread to 185 countries and regions since emerging in China last December.

More than 3.05 million cases have been reported worldwide, with the death toll over 211,300, according to data compiled by the US-based Johns Hopkins University. Nearly 896,200 have recovered from the virus so far.

* Writing by Faruk Zorlu in Ankara.