Smoke billows above the rebel-controlled village of Sarmin, in the eastern part of the Idlib province in northwestern Syria, on March 3, 2020. (OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)

ANKARA / MOSCWO / BERLIN / ISTANBUL - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday he expects his talks this week with Russian President Vladimir Putin to result in the rapid achievement of a ceasefire in northwest Syria’s Idlib region.

Erdogan was speaking to reporters ahead of his visit to Moscow on Thursday for talks with Putin. The Turkish army and the Syrian rebels it backs have escalated attacks in Idlib against Syrian government forces backed by Russia.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday he expects his talks this week with Russian President Vladimir Putin to result in the rapid achievement of a ceasefire in Idlib

The Kremlin said on Wednesday it hoped Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan would be able to agree on a set of joint measures for the Syrian province of Idlib when they meet for talks in Moscow on Thursday.

“We plan to discuss the Idlib crisis... We expect to reach a common understanding on the crisis, the cause of the crisis, the harmful effects of the crisis and arrive at a set of necessary joint measures,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Moscow has long backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his nine-year-old war against rebels.

ALSO READ: Turkey-backed rebels say they've seized town in Syria's Idlib

Chief Spokesman of Russia’s Ministry of Defence, Major-General Igor Konashenkov, said on Wednesday that fortified rebel positions in Syria’s Idlib province had merged with Turkish observation posts, and that artillery attacks on nearby civilian areas and Russia’s air base in Syria had become daily.

Two more Turkish soldiers have been killed and six wounded in an attack by Syrian government forces in Idlib region, the Turkish Defence Ministry said on Wednesday.

Immediately after the Syrian forces opened fire, Turkish forces retaliated and continued to strike targets, the ministry statement said. The incident brought to 59 the death toll, including one on Tuesday, of Turkish forces in their Idlib operation which began last month.

READ MORE: Erdogan: Turkey will repel Syrian forces from Idlib posts this week

Germany moots to pressure Russia 

Germany has close economic ties with Russia and could use this leverage to pressure President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s involvement in Syria, its defense minister said on Wednesday.

German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer repeated her proposal to set up safety zones in north Syria to protect civilians, adding that German Chancellor Angela Merkel was trying to convince Putin to support that. One million people have fled recent fighting in Idlib.

“And this is the question now which also needs to be raised regarding Syria,” Kramp-Karrenbauer said, noting that Germany must show Russia that “we are pretty much aware of what it is doing in Syria.”