Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday began talks on Syria with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Sochi hours before the agreed cease fire expires in Syria.

The Kurdish YPG militia was expected to initially withdraw from a 120-kilometre (75-mile) strip of the border with Turkey as part of the deal. The ceasefire ends at 10 p.m. local time (1900 UTC).

“I believe this meeting will benefit the region, which is going through critical days,” Erdogan said.

Putin expressed hope that the close ties between their countries would “facilitate solutions” for the Syrian conflict.

Before the meeting, Erdogan warned Kurdish YPG militia to withdraw from areas in Syria ahead of the expiry of a five-day US-brokered ceasefire.