Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, at the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Tuesday, hours before a ceasefire between Turkish and Kurdish forces in northern Syria is set to expire. 

A five-day U.S.-brokered pause in Turkey's military offensive against the People's Protection Units (YPG) in northeast Syria is due to expire at 1900 GMT on Tuesday.

According to the Kremlin, "normalizing the situation" in northeast Syria will be the key topic of the two leaders.

"The situation in the region is very severe," Putin told Erdogan as talks began in Sochi, adding that the good rapport between Russia and Turkey, which back opposing sides in Syria's war, "will let us find an answer to even the most difficult questions," Aljazeera reported.

Before departing for talks with Putin, Erdogan warned that his country will resume military offensive in Syria "with greater determination" unless the withdrawal of Kurdish fighters is completed under a U.S.-brokered deal.

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The withdrawal of the Kurdish YPG militia from areas in Syria near to the Turkish border was continuing, Erdogan told reporters at an Ankara airport before departing for talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

"If the promises given to our country by the United States are not kept, we will continue our operation from where we left off with greater determination."

Erdogan has also noted that he will he would discuss with Russian President Vladimir Putin how a Syrian constitutional committee that is due to meet in late October can make concrete progress.

(Cover: Members of PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU, and Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which Turkey regards as a terror group, withdraw from Ras al-Ayn, Syria, October 20, 2019. /VCG Photo)