our correspondent emily sherwin is standing by with more. ily, russia, we know has backed the syrian regime and the syrian civil war. with afrin in particular, they are treading a difficult line because they have close ties with turkey on the other side. have they weighed in on the situation yet? emily: they absolutely have an they are treading a difficult line. that was clear from the statement the foreign minister made today. he said, it was very much of a balancing act. he said russia understands the kurdish expectations, but it also understands the turkish worries about its border region. and he also defended syria. he said it was very important to retain syria's territorial integrity, which has availed criticism at turkey because serious is turkey had no right to invade its airspace and have not been permitted by the country all. now, it seems russia is trying to balance all three sides in this conflict. sarah: in fact, sergey lavrov said the afrin situation can be resolved between talking to unger and damascus, not wanting to get in the