Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov delivers a speech during a session of the Syrian Congress of National Dialogue in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, Jan. 30, 2018. Photo: Reuters / Sergei Karpukhin.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that Ankara had assured Moscow that it did not plan to launch a new military operation in Syria despite earlier comments, the TASS news agency reported.

Turkey’s state-owned Anadolu agency on Monday cited Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu as saying Ankara would launch a new military operation in northeast Syria if the area was not cleared of what he called terrorists.

Lavrov also said that the withdrawal of Kurdish militants in northern Syria was almost complete, RIA reported.