According to yet unconfirmed reports from various sources, Russian military personnel stationed at a small base in the town of Tal Riffat – located in northern Aleppo province – are to withdraw and leave it to Turkish-backed forces, Al-Masdar News reports.

The unconfirmed claims come after days of talks between Moscow and Ankara over the future of Tal Riffat; during this time US-backed forces currently in control of the town have proven uncooperative insofar as not granting Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s request to allow its displaced Arab residents to return, the news agency says.

Tal Riffat was captured by Jaysh al-Thuwar (an Arab faction within the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces) in February 2016.

If the reports are true, it is unclear whether or not US-backed fighters will remain in Tal Riffat “to defend the town from an inevitable storming operation by Turkish-led coalition forces to capture it,” the website says.