Tuesday, the city of Sochi on the Black Sea. The presidents of Russia and Turkey, they

walk into a room and pose for the camera.

Did you get a chance to look at the pictures out of Sochi of Vladimir Putin negotiating

this piece deal between Turkey and Syria?

Yes, the two men looked pretty happy, but it was six hours of negotiations to

hammer out what was going to happen in Northeast Syria.

Deb Amos is an international correspondent for NPR. She's a part of the Middle East for years.

You know, they came up with this 10 point plan that was pretty extraordinary, but I think

the message of the pictures is that Putin is the kingmaker in the region.

Vladimir Putin looked really relaxed. He did.

He was like leaning on his chair in a certain way and Erdogan looked a little stiff.

Well, he had some tough negotiations to carry out there.

I think he got what he wanted, but Putin was completely in control of that meeting.

This meeting felt like watching a global power shift in real time.

Weeks earlier, it had been one world leader, Donald Trump, who kicked off the Middle Eastern

conflict, authorizing a hasty US withdrawal from Northeastern Syria.

Stunning video this morning showing Kurdish civilians in northern Syria,

pelting a US convoy with rotten vegetables as they accuse US troops of abandoning them.

But protesters with signs blocked the convoy's.

One red, thanks for US people, but Trump betrayed us.

Now it's taken a meeting with another world leader, Vladimir Putin,

to figure out what happens next, who patrols which towns, what refugees go where?

...