Putin, Assad and Erdogan will continue their ruthless pursuit of the Middle East regardless of the arms embargo

Editorial: Turkey has plenty of arms to fight its war against the Kurds, and, in the Russian president, a willing salesman for anything more it might need

Like the guys at the zoo who have to clean out the elephant house, Mike Pence, US vice president, and Mike Pompeo, secretary of state, have flown in to Ankara to see if they can do something about the mess left behind by their boss. It looks as though they’ll need a bigger shovel.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quick to let them know that their call for an immediate ceasefire by Turkish forces in Syria had already been rejected.

Russian troops will take over vacant but pristine American military bases, the better to carry out their “peace keeping” mission along the border. In reality, this is about making sure that Turkish and Syrian government troops don’t start fighting. Given that both sides – the Erdogan team and the Bashar al-Assad team – are supposed to be friendly with Moscow, the Russian motive in keeping the peace in northern Syria is not entirely altruistic.