"Kurdish units used to keep an eye on those areas but now that Turkish troops are entering the region, they may just flee away," Putin explained. "I'm not sure that the Turkish army will be able to take control of the situation, and quickly."
He cited intelligence from the Russian military which suggested there were hundreds, possibly thousands of militants in the region. "It's a real threat to all of us," Putin said. "Where will they go? Will they go deeper into Syria, to areas that no one controls, and then move to other countries of the region via Iran?"