The US and Russian chiefs of staff, Generals Mark A. Milley and Valery Gerasimov, held a six hours of talks on Wednesday, 22 September, in Helsinki. No mention of the encounter is made on either of their websites.

The talks centered on the means of contact between the two countries, the surveillance of Afghanistan and the withdrawal from Syria.

The United States is contemplating setting up military bases around Afghanistan, while Russia has strictly warned that the presence of just one US soldier in those countries would be considered an act of war.

Turkey has sent a signal that if forced to withdraw from northern Syria, it will support Tatar terrorism in Crimea.