Turkey, Russia and the Syrian government are working on carrying out joint missions on the ground in Syria, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Friday.

“There are two prongs. First the ongoing political talks that can be held anywhere,” Akar told private NTV television on Friday. “The second is that coordination and work that we are currently doing with Russia on the ground can be carried out in tripartite format.”

His remarks came after the talks held between the three countries' defense chiefs and intelligence officials on Wednesday, marking the first high-level talks between Ankara and Damascus after a decade. 

Akar gave few details, but added that “it was yet premature” to talk about joint operations against the groups that Ankara considers “terrorists.” Under a 2019 deal, Turkey and Russia have started joint patrols on the ground in four different regions in northern Syria, including in the countryside of the Kurdish stronghold Kobane and  along the M4 highway linking the country’s east and west and cutting through the strategic Syrian towns.