A Kurdish fighter from the People's Protection Units (YPG) fires heavy machine-gun at Islamic State militants in Raqqa, Syria June 21, 2017. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

ANKARA (Reuters) - Russia understands Turkey’s stance on the Kurdish YPG militia better than the United States, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday.

Washington is arming YPG forces fighting Islamic State in Syria, alarming NATO ally Turkey which regards them as an extension of the outlawed militant Kurdish PKK group which has waged an insurgency in southeast Turkey since the 1980s.

At an interview with broadcaster TRT Haber, Cavusoglu also said Russia’s military chief would visit Turkey to discuss the situation in Syria’s Idlib province, where jihadists linked to a former al Qaeda affiliate have taken control.