Turkish plans for a ground operation against Kurdish-held areas in Syria have been stalled by Russian and US objections, but a strategy of sustained pressure seems to be taking shape to incrementally undo Kurdish gains on the ground.

The proposals that Moscow and Washington have reportedly made to appease Ankara would both shrink the area of control of the de facto Kurdish-led autonomous administration in northern Syria, though they would prevent any Turkish boots on the ground. Moreover, Turkey’s talks with Russia are premised on the prospect of Ankara normalizing ties with Damascus and the Russians using that prospect to pressure the Kurds to compromise with the Syrian government. 

Syria was high on the agenda of Turkish-Russian talks in Istanbul on Dec. 8-9, led by the two countries’ deputy foreign ministers and attended by the Kremlin’s Syria envoy Alexander Lavrentyev. “No ground operation has been launched yet, which means there has been a positive result already. We will press on," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said after the talks. The topic was also discussed in a Dec. 11 phone call between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

Moscow and Washington have not officially revealed their proposals, but some details have leaked.