Kurdish fighters in Syria have thanked Russia for saving them from the 'scourge of war' after Vladimir Putin struck a deal to keep the Turkish offensive at bay.

Mazlum Abdi, the head of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), phoned Moscow to 'thank Putin and Russia for their keenness in defusing the war'.

However, he also voiced 'reservations' about parts of the deal with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which will see Turkish troops remain fully deployed in northern Syria.

Russian troops yesterday conducted their first patrols near the Turkish border to escort the Kurdish fighters out.

The Kurds have 150 hours to evacuate, but Turkey remains poised to attack and Erdogan yesterday voiced fears that the Kurdish fighters might stay in the zone by pretending to be Syrian government forces.

Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad has profited from the turmoil by dispatching troops to part of the country where they had not set foot in years.

His forces will help the Russians carry out joint patrols in the 18-mile zone along the Turkish border.

Turkey has previously backed rebels fighting against Assad, but Erdogan's deal with Putin has now given the Syrian leader 'de facto recognition', experts said.

Putin the saviour? The Russian leader (right), pictured with Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa in Sochi yesterday, has won praise from the Kurds for his intervention in Syria

Russian presence: Putin's soldiers walk past a Russian military police vehicle at a position in the north-eastern Syrian city of Kobane

Syrian government forces deploy near the town of Tal Tamr this week as President Bashar al-Assad deploys his troops to parts of the country where they have not been seen in years

With American troops gone, Russia is now the major power-broker in Syria - another boost to Assad who counts Putin as a close ally.

Yesterday Putin hosted dozens of African leaders at a summit in Sochi as Moscow seeks to spread its influence across Africa and the Middle East.

Russian troops crossed the Euphrates River in Syria on Wednesday to start patrolling the area alongside Syrian forces.

Patrols have already begun near the city of Manbij, where U.S. troops were manning a base until two weeks ago.

The Russians also entered the city of Kobani in a particularly symbolic blow to the Kurds, who fought ISIS for control of it in 2014-15.

Russian military police and Syrian border guards will 'facilitate the removal' of Kurdish fighters and their weapons from within 18 miles of the border.

This withdrawal must be finalised within 150 hours, according to a text of the agreement released after the talks.

Moscow's deputy foreign minister Sergei Vershinin said he hoped the Kurds would go voluntarily, avoiding the dire fate predicted by the Kremlin which said they would be 'mauled' by Turkish forces if they remained in the zone.

However, Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said Kurdish civilians would not have to leave their homes, amid fears of 'ethnic cleansing' in the region.

Putin, pictured with the President of Ghana yesterday, has emerged as the key power-broker in Syria after American forces pulled out of the country earlier this month

Provocation: The Turkish flag (right) and the emblem of anti-Assad rebels in Syria (left) are unfurled on the roof of a former Kurdish headquarters in the town of Ras al-Ain today

Turkish presence: Two of Recep Tayyip Erdogan's soldiers patrol the northern Syrian town of Tal Abyad on Wednesday as Turkey stamps its authority on the border zone

A map showing the area that will be patrolled by Russian and Turkish forces under the agreement struck between Putin and Erdogan yesterday

The Turkish-occupied area remained generally calm on Wednesday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

However, explosions hit various parts of Syria including the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli and the town of Suluk in the Tal Abyad region near Turkey's border.

The Kurds claim the attack is still going on and Syrians in Ras al-Ain suffered horrific burns in a blast yesterday, before the ceasefire ended.

Once the Kurdish fighters have withdrawn, Russian and Turkish forces will then begin joint patrols along the Turkish-controlled zone.

The two countries are also said to be in talks about extra deliveries of Russian-made S-400 missile defence systems to Ankara.

Turkey halted its offensive last week under a US-brokered ceasefire and said there was 'no need' to resume military operations when the ceasefire expired on Tuesday.

But Ankara has also warned that it will take 'necessary measures' to 'neutralise' any Kurdish fighters who remain in the border area.

Erdogan wants a southern buffer zone against the Kurdish fighters, whom he considers terrorists.

Russian presence: Members of the Russian military police patrol in the north-eastern Syrian city of Kobane today as Moscow's forces arrive to help escort Kurdish fighters out of the zone

Kurdish presence: A member of the Kurdish Internal Security Force stands guard during a protest in Qamishli, which remains under Kurdish control

After returning from Russia yesterday he voiced fears that the Kurds could stay in the area by wearing Syrian army uniforms.

Putin told Erdogan at their Sochi summit that he would not let that happen, the Turkish leader told reporters yesterday.

Meanwhile, Bashar al-Assad's forces are returning to long-abandoned towns and villages without firing a shot after the Americans pulled out.

Abandoned by U.S. forces, the Kurds had no choice but to turn to Russia and its ally Syria for help against Turkey.

Ankara has previously backed anti-Assad rebels and an opposition flag was unveiled alongside a Turkish one at a former Kurdish headquarters in Syria yesterday.

However, Turkey has decided it would rather have Assad's forces along the border than the Kurdish fighters it wants expelled.

The deal has given the Syrian leader 'de facto recognition,' said Lina Khatib of UK think-tank Chatham House.

'Assad and Russia see this recognition as the beginning of international community normalization with the Assad regime, and as such an indication of their victory in the war,' she said.

Turkey said there was 'no need' to resume its military onslaught when a five-day ceasefire ended on Tuesday night- but Syrians were injured by a blast in the border area

A young girl is carried away with an injured leg after an explosion in the border area in Syria

Trump has shown no interest in toppling Assad and pulled U.S. forces out of Syria to bring troops home from what he called 'endless wars' in the Middle East.

That opened the door to Turkey's invasion in what was widely condemned as a betrayal of the Kurdish fighters who had helped to defeat ISIS.

With American forces gone, the border zone is now a tinderbox of Turkish, Russian and Syrian forces as well as anti-Assad rebels - shattering Kurdish hopes of autonomy.

Donald Trump declared yesterday hailed the deal as a 'big success' and said the Kurds were 'safe and have worked very nicely with us'.

Declaring that the ceasefire would become 'permanent', Trump said he was lifting sanctions which were imposed on Turkey after the invasion began.

However, a a top U.S. official warned that more than 100 ISIS prisoners had escaped since Turkey's invasion began.

James Jeffrey told Congress that the State Department 'does not know where they are', amid fears of a mass jailbreak amid the chaos in the region.

Detention camps in Syria are believed to be holding more than 10,000 militants, including some 2,000 foreign fighters.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Vladmir Putin meet in the resort of Sochi for a summit to discuss the future of Syria on Tuesday

Angry Kurds have blocked US troops in the streets as they cross from Syria into Iraq in a display of hostility after Washington pulled the plug on their support

Kurdish fighters have previously warned they do not have the resources to guard the prisons but are still doing so at the moment, the special envoy said.

Trump insisted soon afterwards that some of the escaped prisoners had already been recaptured.

With concerns that the Kurds may no longer be able to monitor ISIS prisoners, Trump said he expects Turkey to 'abide by its commitment' to act as a 'back-up to the Kurds.'

'Should something happen, Turkey is there to grab them,' he said.

The U.S. has indicated that some of its withdrawn troops may stay in western Iraq to continue the fight against ISIS.

But Iraq appeared to throw those plans into disarray this week by saying the Americans had no permission to stay there.

Yesterday the Iraqi PM confirmed that position, saying Baghdad was taking 'all international legal measures'.

U.S. troops leaving Syria and heading to Iraq earlier this week in a withdrawal which has opened the way for a Turkish invasion and thrust Syria back into the international spotlight

Angry Kurds have blocked U.S. troops in the streets as they cross from Syria into Iraq after Washington pulled the plug on their support.

American troops were even pelted with potatoes as they passed through a Syrian town on their way to Iraq on Monday.

The Pentagon is now considering keeping a small U.S. force in north-eastern Syria to protect oilfields and Trump indicated today that a few troops would remain there.

'We have secured the oil and, therefore, a small number of US troops will remain in the area where they have the oil,' the President said.

The United States currently has 5,200 troops posted in Iraq, deployed as part of a Washington-led coalition against the ISIS jihadists.

The U.S. presence at several bases across Iraq is already controversial, with numerous political groups and pro-Iran Shiite armed groups demanding their expulsion.